Another Sadie chapter- we get a lot of insight into how she's thinking and feeling- and she learns some new stuff- I love her honestly.
Undeath9087: Yeah, for now. And you'll get more of an idea of how Sadie feels in this chapter which is fun.
Georgia: Sorry, though then again I'm not, I love causing intense emotions.
Guest: You'll have to wait and see- though I will point out that Percy does have a god inside of her bolstering her strength somewhat, though we all know she's badass even on her own. And she did end up incredibly weak afterwards.
Guest: Okay, so the way I see it- the more senior members of the House of Life know about the Greek pantheon- maybe not about others but I mean, the they were involved during the later years of Egypts power so they'd be aware of the Greek gods and that Demigods exist, however they've had no interaction for years, so it's not something that's taught day to day. Desjardins would be aware of the Greek gods existing, but it's not likely to be his first assumption given the fact that they very very rarely interact. So he knows something is very strange about Percy but not what yet. And they don't learn about the Greek gods as in depth as they do their own for obvious reasons.
Anonymous: You will find out, just not quite yet. But it does change a big thing from the books so you shall have to wait and see.
Sally hadn't given them much time to just sit and mourn- Sadie could understand that even if she hated it. The woman had made short work of bundling them all into the car, Sadie was sat in the passenger seat because Carter had insisted on sitting in the back- Percy was led out on the back seats, her head in Carter's lap, and Khufu was sat in the footwell of the back, watching Percy and Carter as if they were going to disappear on him.
Sadie didn't blame either of them for that- she'd- though she wasn't sure she was willing to admit it out loud yet the younger girl had grown on her- Percy was ridiculously brave and protective- and if Sadie was honest, she could see that they had a lot in common- including an enjoyment of causing chaos.
So when they'd left her behind in Paris Sadie had been terrified- had felt horribly guilty. Sure it hadn't hit her as hard as it had hit Carter- the waves of self loathing and guilt had almost been palpable.
But she'd felt guilty and worried and she'd missed the younger girl something terrible.
And seeing her rise out of the water and killing a giant freaking crocodile had been- well Sadie was willing to admit it had been amazing- the rush of pure relief she'd felt was insane.
Percy was okay- she was safe and somehow she'd found her way back to them- as impossible as the idea of that sounded. Everything would be okay.
And then Sobek had arrived and Percy had seemed like she could handle it- right up until the end.
And now Bast was gone- back to the Duat- probably unable to come back for hundreds of years, her final act, protecting the youngest of the Kane siblings- because yeah, while she wasn't ready to say it out loud Sadie was now willing to admit that Percy was her sister.
And it hadn't even stopped Percy from being hurt- that was the part that stung most- Percy was alive, Bast had saved her life but- whenever she glanced back at Carter and Percy she felt sick- had Percy always been that small looking? Even when they'd first met Percy hadn't looked so tiny to Sadie- short yes, but there'd always been that
vibrancy to her. It hadn't faded even after the fight with Set- she'd been pale then but she hadn't looked so- well- if Sadie didn't know better she'd have thought that Percy was dead. And given the fact that she'd went one on one with a god she was probably lucky not to be. Sadie kept forgetting that the girl was only nine but now she wished she could forget.
Sally must have caught her glancing back for the dozenth time in less than twenty minutes because she spoke, her voice soft, "Sadie, she's going to be okay. Once we've stopped I'll wake her up and get her to drink a healing potion-I always keep some on me just in case."
"She looks-"
"I know." and Sadie turned her head to focus on Sally as the woman spoke- and she noticed how tight her expression was, the way she was gripping the wheel of the car so tightly that Sadie was surprised it wasn't cracking in her grip. "I know sweetheart. But I promise you, Percy will be fine. All three of you will be."
"How-" Carter's voice was soft, "How did you even- I mean-"
"Percy found me and told me about the museum- about Set's plans. I decided that our best chance of finding you would be to head towards Arizona- towards Phoenix. And
Percy- she wanted to go to the river. She has good instincts- and then she sensed something and she took off and told me to drive- and I made it to you."
"It-" Carter's voice cracked, "I'm glad you came mom."
"Of course I came." Sally's voice was firm, "The only reason I didn't come sooner was because I couldn't track you three."
Three. Sally was including her, Sadie wasn't sure how to react to that.
"It was- it's been so scary-" and seeing Carter with Sally was strange too. She knew he saw her as a mom but- it was one thing to know it, and another thing entirely to see it, to see how he instantly trusted her. A part of Sadie thought she should be angry at that- but she found that she wasn't. Not anymore. How could she be?
"So Percy's told me. I'm proud of all of you." she added, "You've all been really brave. It won't be long now before it's over. I wish you didn't have to do this but- I'm smart enough to know that I can't stop it so I'm going to be with you okay? All three of you. None of you are going to have to handle anything alone from now on okay? You're kids you should have never had to do this by yourselves."
"All three of us?" Sadie's voice was barely more than a whisper but Sally heard her- and she took a moment to reach over, gently taking Sadie's hand and squeezing it before she let go and gripped the wheel again.
"All three of you." Sally confirmed, "I know you don't really like me Sadie- and I know I'm not your mom. But I love your father and I love your brother, and you're part of their family so you're my family too- even if you never see me as a mom. I can just be Sally to you, but you are a part of this family and we don't leave anyone behind. You will always have a home with us if that's what you want."
And Sadie felt like she'd been dunked in ice cold water at that- because even if she had wanted to still hate the woman how the fuck could she ever hate her after that? She'd never been kind to Sally- not even once, but the woman didn't care about that. She wanted Sadie- and- sure Sadie now understood that her dad had wanted her- and so had
Carter, but she'd never actually felt truly wanted by any of them until that moment-and she blinked rapidly to get rid of the tears.
"You're too nice. You know that?"
"Oh I don't know about that." Sally let out a soft laugh, "I did almost kill a man once-"
"What?" That gasp came from Carter- he sounded scandalized- and Sadie didn't blame him. It was very hard to imagine the warm, welcoming beautiful woman sat in the drivers seat killing a man. Or even nearly killing one.
"That's right." Sally glanced into the mirror at Carter, who's mouth was open, "You wouldn't know about that huh?"
"No I wouldn't. When did you almost kill a man mom."
"The day I met your father."
"What?" Sadie's eyes widened, "How- wait I don't know how you guys met."
"I thought-" Carter paused, "What actually happened that day mom?"
"Hmmm." Sally hummed, a smile playing across her lips, "Tell you what you two- I'll tell you the story. And then you two get some rest. I can keep us going to wherever we need to go."
"But mom-" and Carter, for once in his life, sounded like a normal whiny teen, and Sally gave him a stern look. "Carter Kane you and Sadie probably haven't been eating or sleeping nearly enough- you look like you haven't slept in days."
"I have-"
"Not properly." Sadie couldn't help but pipe up. "Every time you do sleep it's not for long and you keep having those weird dreams we get-"
"Thank you for being honest Sadie." Sally's voice was warm, "Do you want the story-"
"I- fine." Carter flushed but he gave a small nod, shoulders slumping slightly. "Fine, fine."
"And you Sadie."
"I wanna know when you almost killed a dude."
"Of course." Sally smiled, "First- you should know that my first husband- not Percy's father-"
"Obviously. You didn't marry a god." Sadie said quickly.
"Obviously- well my first husband wasn't a nice man- I married him to protect Percy- monsters used to smell her before your father used magic to shield her. Gabe stunk. It was enough to cover her smell."
"Wait when you say stunk-"
"I mean it was bad enough that my eyes were watering by the time I was on the same floor as him." Sally told them, "It was not nice I'm telling you. And he got mad at Percy one day- when she wasn't well in school so she was sent home-"
"He hurt her." Carter's voice was quiet- and Sadie's eyes widened in shock, her head snapping back to look at her brother.
"What?"
"Gabe hurt her." Carter spoke up again. "He got angry at her and hit her." he traced his fingers over the thin scar that ran through Percy's eyebrow, "It was really bad- but she managed to get away and she ran away from him. She ran into me and dad."
"You never told me-"
"Would you have wanted to know?"
"I-" Sadie faltered. No. No she wouldn't have even let him start telling her before. She felt a rush of guilt- maybe Percy hadn't had it so easily as she'd always thought.
"Sorry."
"Yeah, well, I remember she said it was a monster- she kept insisting on it so dad- I guess he was worried it might actually be one so he left her with me and went to check it out. We went into this little cafe."
"Yes." Sally nodded, "In any case as soon as the school called me I headed home but it was too late- Percy was already gone and- I thought Gabe had hurt her and tried to
hide her. So I got a knife and I had him up against a wall when your father arrived."
"Seriously." Sadie's eyes widened and she let out a laugh, "You first met dad when you had some asshole with a knife to his throat?"
"Yes. I think your father agreed with my actions. He told me he'd met Percy and that she was okay, and we both realised that neither of us had normal lives- so I told him
about Percy's father and your father told me about Egyptian Magic. He was the one who suggested that Percy and I travel with him and Carter- he could protect Percy so I wouldn't need Gabe anymore. It was- well it was the best offer I'd gotten so I decided to go for it. What did I have to lose?"
"I-" Sadie blinked slowly, "I never really thought about how it all started before." she could kind of understand now- neither of them had planned on falling in love- that much was obvious- and Sadie couldn't resent them for it. She could feel the years worth of anger starting to melt away. Sure it wasn't going to be magically easy now- but- she could understand it in a way she never had before. Though- she did still have one question that, in her opinion, desperately needed answering.
"What happened to Gabe though?"
"You know." Sally paused, a thoughtful look on her face, "I really don't know. I know when I let him go he tried to attack me- your father stopped him of course- he hit the wall pretty hard but I didn't actually check up on him after. I just left. Started a new life. I don't even know if Gabe is alive anymore."
"I hope he isn't." Sadie said after a moment, glancing back at Carter and Percy. "He doesn't deserve to get to live."
And there was one more thing that the story had helped her find some clarity with.
She understood now why Carter was so much more protective of Percy than he had ever been of her. It wasn't because he loved her more.
It was because Carter couldn't ever forget seeing Percy as a tiny helpless five year old who'd been beaten by someone who was more of a monster than a man.