Some more Percy and Zia in this chapter- and action comes soon I promise you guys. Also, just wondering what you guys think since I've finished the plot of the first book. Should I make this fic a really really long one and combine all three KC books into one, or should I do it the same as I have the Family Ties fics? Also, what do people think should happen for Sally romance wise- a long distance type thing with Julius? Possibly Julius and Ruby, or should she end up with someone else?
Replies:
Ryan Fowler: Well it is still early days remember, they have a lot of time to train together and everything.
Batmanuchiha: Well, she's definitely not going to be in a magical coma so you'll have to wait and see.
Guest: You'll have to wait and see for powers- Percy doesn't know just how much of a big deal it is, and neither does Zia. And Percy didn't think to mention it because it's not as important at this stage for now.
Deborah Swenson: Yeah, she really is. Even at nine she wants to protect everyone.

It took them far too long to reach their destination- in Percy's opinion anyway- but she followed Nephthys' directions, and they were proved to be right when they broke through the sandstorm into a circle of perfect calm.

Percy sucked in a sharp breath as they did, her eyes wide, "Oh wow-" she could see a mountain at the centre of it- less than a mile away.

"Camelback Mountain." Zia spoke softly, "We will be there soon."

"Suddenly I'm not sure I want to go there." Percy muttered the words.

All around the mountain swirled a cylinder of black clouds. Traces of smoke were drifting back and forth from Camelback's peak to the edges of the maelstrom like the spokes of a wheel, but directly above them the sky was clear and starry, beginning to turn gray. Sunrise would come soon. They were running out of time.

The streets were empty- a fact that Percy was glad for, they wouldn't have to worry about innocents getting caught in the crossfire- though it was really weird- like a ghost town.

Mansions clustered around the mountains base, all of them were completely dark, abandoned- and if they had more time Percy was pretty sure she could have had a lot of fun causing chaos in the empty homes- but sadly enough they had a job to do.

"We don't have much choice." Zia stopped the car, glancing back at Percy, "This will not be easy."

"We'll rescue the others together, help them stop Set."

"We need a plan."

"Uh- we can't just charge in and blow stuff up?" Percy asked almost hopefully, which earned her a soft laugh from Zia.

"I do not believe that is a good plan. For one thing-" she nodded towards the mountain, which was almost glowing- it looked like something very bright and hot was trying to burn its way through the rocks- it made Percy uneasy to say the very least. And when Zia finished her thought it did not help, "Nothing is moving on the streets. If we try to drive up to it..."

"We'll be seen." Percy realised. "We need to avoid it. An invisibility spell?"

"It could work." Zia said after a moment, "I don't carry the proper components on me but if you do-"

"I keep extra supplies in the duat." Percy perked up as she focused, thrusting her hand into the duat- it was a little harder than usual but it was something Percy had always had a gift for and with a bit of concentration she managed to pull a large blue backpack out.

The bag was decorated with wave patterns- and Zia's lips twitched slightly- though she quickly covered it when Percy glared at her. "What's so funny?"

"It is a fine bag. Let me see." and Percy handed it forward, leaning so that she could watch Zia dump the contents of the bag onto the passenger seat and rummage through them, quickly selecting the supplies that they'd need. "We will still need to be careful even though we'll be invisible- there's a chance that someone may see through the spell."

"I know." Percy nodded, "But as long as we're super careful they shouldn't notice us right?"

"Your brother saw through it." Zia's expression turned distant for a moment, "I- I was most surprised by him. I'm still not sure what to feel about him."

"Carter's cool." Percy rested her elbows on the seats in front of her as she leaned forward. "He's a good big brother."

"Yes, I've seen that much. He cares about you and your sister very much."

"It was super hard for him I think- cause of how weird thing always were with Sadie. But he loves us both. He can be kinda boring sometimes- with rules and stuff. But he's real smart."

"Yes, yes he is." Zia's smile was strange- it reminded Percy of how her mom used to smile, back when they'd first met Carter and Julius- before they'd become a family.

Then Zia shook herself, her face flushing slightly, "Anyway. I shall perform the spell." she paused, "It will be difficult- we won't even be able to see one another we'll have no way to track of each other."

"Hm..." Percy paused, "I may have a solution for that." she said after a long moment, "A spell I figured out a couple of years ago. I came up with it 'cause I wanted to use it with Carter some day."

"Oh?" Zia raised an eyebrow as Percy plucked a piece of chalk from the pile on the seat.

"Hold out your hand."

Zia did as she was told and Percy carefully drew some hieroglyphs on the older girls hand, before copying them onto the palm of her own hand.

"Silent talk?" Zia's voice was almost curious as she examined the hieroglyphs. "What now?"

Percy grinned, reaching out and gripping Zia's hand with her own, pressing their palms together as she spoke the words in Egyptian.

Then she released Zia's hand, leaning back slightly and focusing, her brows furrowing and her lips pressing together tightly.

"We should be able to project what we want to say into our minds. It worked with my dad."

And it was almost comical how wide Zia's eyes went. "That's genius Persephone- simple but effective. I don't think I've heard of a spell like this before."

"I dunno, maybe I made it up but it made sense to me." Percy gave a little shrug, "It'll last like, four hours."

"Which gives us plenty of time." Zia gave a firm nod. "Let me finish the invisibility spell and then we will leave."

And thankfully the spell didn't take that long for Zia to cast, and soon the two girls were on the move.

Zia had grabbed Percy's hand as they'd set off- and Percy, while she wasn't sure she'd ever actually admit the fact, was pretty grateful to the older girl for it.

There was something very terrifying about not being able to see her- her friend- because yes Zia was a friend now. Even if they'd not exactly hit it off well.

The walk to the mountain wasn't too bad all things considered, though as they got closer the air seemed to get hotter- and nothing seemed to have noticed them- there were no attacks at least, which was a small mercy in Percy's mind.

It got a bit harder when they did reach the mountain- but both of the girls were pretty fit and well trained, and side by side they helped each other scale it until they managed to reach one of the many ridges on the side of the mountain, and from there they managed to get a good view of their true destination and Zia allowed the invisibility spell to drop- they'd be less likely to get away with it when there were so many demons, and it would be better to preserve
Zia's magic for the fight, as worrying as that was.

The view was terrifying, disorienting to say the least.

The entire mountain was hollowed out- just as Carter had described what felt like a lifetime ago. The cavern floor was a very very vast distance below them and fires blazed everywhere, bathing the rock walls in a blood-colored light.

And the main feature, the horrifying sight that drew the eye despite the fact that Percy did not, in fact, want to see it at all?

A giant crimson pyramid which dominated the cave, and at its base, masses of demons milled about like a rock concert crowd waiting for the show to begin. High above them, eye-level to the two girls, two magic barges manned by crews of demons floated slowly, ceremoniously towards the pyramid. Suspended in a mesh of ropes between the boats was the only piece of the pyramid not yet installed—a golden capstone to top off the structure.

"Oh that is not good." Percy mumbled.

"Only the pyramidion left." Zia looked incredibly pale, "I fear that we're running out of time Persephone."

"Any sign of the others?"

"I cannot see them." Zia shook her head, "They may already be inside-"

"Or not-" Percy pointed down below them- there was a commotion below, and Percy felt her face splitting into a grin as she saw what had to be a small bird transforming into Sadie- and then Carter was there too fighting off some of the demons on one of the boats."

"They plan on stopping the demons from placing the capstone." Zia breathed, "If it wasn't for Amos' presence I would believe that the plan might work-"

"Look, my mom's with them too- let's go help them-"

"Wait-" Zia caught Percy's arm as they watched Sally arrive, and Percy was impressed by the fierce way that her usually kind and gentle mom was fighting.
"Their plan won't finish with the capstone, and Set will want to get them inside-"

"Right." Percy swallowed hard, "So- we go inside and meet them in there? But how-"

"Desjardin's mentioned that you are not unskilled with transformations-"

Percy blinked, "Very good point. Are you good transformations."

"I'm sure I can manage one." Zia stated firmly.

It didn't take either of them long to transform, and soon they were in the air- Zia had taken on the form of a falcon, while Percy was once again a hawk- though she didn't enjoy this flight as much as she had her two most recent ones.

As they flew overhead Percy found herself tempted to dive towards Carter, Sadie and her mom- they were fighting and they were doing well- but Set was there. Set was right there with them and that thought filled her with undeniable dread. Maybe she could fly down, warn them. She had to try didn't she? What other choice did she have she couldn't leave them with him she just couldn't-

"PERSEPHONE!" Zia's voice was sharp, and Percy turned her head, spotting Zia's falcon form a short distance ahead of her, looking back at her.

"But-"

"He could strike your out of the sky now and they'd have no clue! We must get inside! Please." And it was the pleading tone of Zia's voice that made Percy tear her gaze away from her family, wheeling around and soaring towards the pyramid, and soon enough she was by Zia's side again, and they flew through the pyramids entrance, Percy and Sadie both transforming back- and it seemed that they were doing well so far, they were alone in there and no one had followed them because there had been so much chaos below that they hadn't been spotted.

"What now?" Percy glanced around quickly, her eyes drawn towards the tunnel further into the pyramid.

"I cannot cast another invisibility spell- if anyone passes by before your family join us-"

"Well." Percy focused on the tunnel, grabbing Zia's hand, "When in doubt I have a saying. You wanna hear it?"

"I feel as if I won't like this saying of yours." Zia's voice was wry, almost amused.

"Always explore the creepy tunnel." and Zia laughed as Percy started to move, dragging the older girl along with her.

It wasn't nice, the tunnel was narrow, red and humid, definitely not comfortable- and Percy swallowed hard, shaking slightly- it wasn't nice. It felt like the world was closing in around her almost.

"Persephone." Zia's voice was soft, "I am here." and Percy glanced back at her, painfully grateful. It wasn't much, but the show of support meant more than
Percy could really even have words for.

"Let's do this."

And as they headed further down the tunnel- which was difficult to say the least- it slanted downwards, Percy nearly slipped a dozen times, though Zia's grip
on her hand was a reassuring lifeline.

And as they walked Percy looked around, eyes narrowing as she looked at the carvings on the walls. The pictures showed horrible monsters, scenes of war, cities such as Paris and London in flames, full-color portraits of Set and the Set animal tearing into modern armies—scenes so gruesome, no Egyptian would ever commit them to stone. The farther they went, the weirder and more vivid the pictures became . - Percy had seen many tombs, and she was used to seeing the carvings in them, but this? This wasn't right.

Zia seemed to catch her unease because she squeezed Percy's hand again, "The pyramid is not a tomb, it's not right. It's a platform. A body to contain the power of Set. All of these pictures-"

"They're all about the chaos." Percy pulled a face, "I always liked causing chaos but I don't want it forever."

"We will stop it Persephone. I have faith."

And then, after what felt like a lifetime they reached the heart of the pyramid.