Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter-not so much action but we get more of Percy being a great sister. Also, more worry for our guys.
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Guest: Desjardins knows Percy hosted a goddess- and he doesn't realise what she is quite yet- there's another reason he's not hunting her which will become clearer, and the dreams will come up again eventually- and they will find out eventually. Just not quite yet.

"As I was saying." Carter shot the two girls a dirty look. "You all know the story, Ra was the king of the gods- he got senile-" he caught the looks on Percy and Sadie's faces and took a deep breath. "Okay okay. The point is that Ra was the first and most powerful king of the gods. We think he's still alive, just asleep somewhere in the Duat. If we can wake him-"

"But if he retired when he was senile wouldn't that mean he's really really senile now?" Walt asked.

"Perhaps." Zia spoke up, a distant look on her face, "But that does not mean that we have no chance." her gaze flicked to Bast- who frowned at her uneaten breakfast- a plate of Fancy Feast.

"Ra is the god of the sun." she spoke after a moment, "In olden times he aged as the day aged, then sailed through the Duat on his boat each night and was reborn with the sunrise each morning."

Sadie opened her mouth to speak- but Percy knew her sister and she elbowed her hard- which earned her a dirty look from the older girl, though that melted away after a long moment.

Then Bast pointed at the scroll from the night before, which Sadie had set down next to her teacup.

"When Ra stopped making his nightly journey the cycle was broken and Ra faded into permanent twilight. At least so we think. He meant to sleep forever. But if you could find him in the Duat. And that is a big if, it's possible he might be brought back and reborn with the right magic. The Book of Ra describes how this might be done. Ra's priests created the book in ancient times and kept it secret, dividing it into three parts, to be used only if the world was ending."

"If…the world was ending?" Cleo asked. "You mean Apophis is really going to…to swallow the sun?"

"He's gonna try." Percy declared, a determined scowl on her lips, "But we're not gonna let him do it. It's gonna be okay Cleo I promise."

"Is that possible?" Walt was looking towards Percy and Sadie, "In your story- the one you guys recorded about the Red Pyramid, you said that Apophis was behind Set's plan to destroy North America. He was trying to cause so much chaos magic that he could break out of his prison."

"Yep." Percy popped the P, swinging her legs like- well like a kid. "He's big and gross and scary."

"He's definitely the real threat." Sadie piped up. "And we've already stopped him once but his prison is weakening. We need to prepare because if he manages to escape-"

"He will." Carter interrupted Sadie- and he sounded much more sure than Percy had expected- sure they knew it was a very terrifying possibility but the tone of Carter's voice made it sound much more like a certainty. "In four days. Unless we stop him. And then he'll destroy civilization, Everything humans have built since the dawn of Egypt." and brought the mood down as quickly as a bucky of water would put out a small fire.

Percy glanced at Sadie- who had clearly noticed Carter's certainty too. They looked at Carter- and Percy noticed that Zia was stood close to him, her hand gripping his tightly- and the look on his face told them that he'd probably had some sort of dream warning. Zia had probably been the first person he told- they were real close these days. And Bast looked uncomfortable too, she was digging her claws into the dining table.

Okay so Percy and Sadie- and possibly Amos were the ones in the dark this time. That was annoying.

At the far end of the table Felix was counting on his fingers, "Why four days? What's so special about, um, March twenty first?"

"The spring equinox," Bast explained. "A powerful time for magic. The hours of day and night are exactly balanced, meaning the forces of Chaos and Ma'at can be easily tipped one way or the other. It's the perfect time to awaken Ra. In fact, it's our only chance until the fall equinox, six months from now. But we can't wait that long."

"Because unfortunately," Amos added, "the equinox is also the perfect time for Apophis to escape his prison and invade the mortal world. You can be sure he has minions working on that right now. According to our sources among the gods, Apophis will succeed, which is why we have to awaken Ra first."

Percy winced- yeah she could understand why the trainees were all looking terrified and stunned at that revelation. She doubted they'd really understood what they were signing up for when they'd answered the call to come to Brooklyn House.

"Right." Sadie cleared her throat, breaking the uncomfortable moment of silence, "So, when Apophis breaks out he'll try to destroy Ma'at, the order of the universe. He'll swallow the sun, Plunge the earth into eternal darkness and otherwise make us have a very bad day-"

"Which is real mean if you think of it." Percy piped up. "He's just a big bully. We just gotta kick his scaly butt."

"Which-" Amos' lips twitched, "Is what we need Ra for," his tone was calm, reassuring- though his words were directed at the trainees rather than the Kanes or Zia. He knew they understood better than anyone else the danger that they were in. "Ra was Apophis's archenemy. Ra is the Lord of Order, whereas Apophis is the Lord of Chaos. Since the beginning of time, these two forces have been in a perpetual battle to destroy one another. If Apophis returns, we have to make sure we have Ra on our side to counteract him. Then we stand a chance of- as Percy put it, kicking his scaly butt-" and there were a few giggles from some of the trainees closer to Percy's age.

"A chance," Walt said. "Assuming we can find Ra and wake him, and the rest of the House of Life doesn't destroy us first."

Amos nodded. "But if we can awaken Ra, that would be a feat more difficult than any magician has ever accomplished. It would make Desjardins think twice.
The Chief Lector…well, it would seem he's not thinking clearly, but he's no fool. He recognizes the danger of Apophis rising. We must convince him that we're on the same side, that the path of the gods is the only way to defeat Apophis. I would rather do this than fight him."

Sadie let out a quiet scoff at that, which earned her a narrow eyed look from Percy, who hissed, "Try and be nice."

"Just 'cause he saved your life doesn't mean I have to like him." Sadie whispered back.

"T-the scroll." that came from Cleo- who was a nice enough girl- not much of a fighter, Percy wasn't too close to her because she was quiet, "You said that there are two other parts?"

At that Sadie carefully picked up the school- and Percy looked at it curiously, tilting her head- it looked fragile. Brittle and yellow- like it would crumble at a touch, but Percy knew from experience that as long as they were careful it should be fine. And Sadie was careful as she very gently started to unroll the cylinder.

Carter and Amos both tensed and Amos shifted slightly, "Sadie..." there was a hint of warning in his tone- which was understandable after what had happened last night- though Percy did notice that Zia's gaze was more focused on the scroll, as if it was the only thing in the world before she blinked rapidly and shook herself slightly. Percy wondered what she was thinking- but Zia would tell them if it was anything important.

In any case nothing happened as Sadie carefully spread out the scroll on the table. Percy blinked, pressing into Sadie's side to get a better look. It looked like gibberish to Percy, and she could see that at the end of the papyrus was a jagged line- a sure sign that it had been ripped.

"The three pieces must graft together." Sadie spoke up slowly, "It's probably only readable once all three sections are combined. It would make sense."

"Yeah," Percy nodded, "There's other scrolls like that I think- I remember dad telling me about them."

"And it's like when I was about to banish Set." Sadie added, "I could only do it with the right things.

Khufu looked up from his Jell-O at that. "Agh!" and he put three slimy grapes on the table."

"Exactly," Bast agreed. "As Khufu says, the three sections of the book represent the three aspects of Ra—morning, noon, and night. That scroll there is the spell of Khnum. You'll need to find the other two now."

"So the other two grapes-" Sadie flushed, "I mean, scrolls, according to my vision last night they won't be easy to find."

Amos nodded. "The first section was lost eons ago. The middle section is in the possession of the House of Life. It has been moved many times, and is always kept under tight security. Judging from your vision, I'd say the scroll is now in the hands of Vladimir Menshikov."

"The ice cream man." Sadie frowned, "Who is he? You said you knew the name."

Amos traced something on the table- his expression was incredibly worried so Percy would guess that it was a protective hieroglyph.

"The third-most powerful magician in the world. He's also one of Desjardins' strongest supporters. He runs the Eighteenth Nome, in Russia."

Bast hissed. Being a cat, she was quite good at that. "Vlad the Inhaler. He's got an evil reputation."

"What happened to his face?"

Bast was about to answer, but Amos cut her off.

"Just realize that he's quite dangerous," he warned. "Vlad's main talent is silencing rogue magicians."

"You mean he's an assassin?" Sadie asked. "Wonderful. And Desjardins just gave him permission to hunt Carter and me if we leave Brooklyn."

"Which you'll have to do." Bast said, "If you want to seek the other sections of the Book of Ra you only have four days."

"Not good." Percy pulled a face before- "He didn't say he could hunt me-"

"No." Carter's voice was sharp, "Percy you're nine you're not going looking for the scrolls on your own. If I didn't think you'd just follow us anyway I'd be
telling you not to come with us to search at all."

"Boring."

"At least we'll have you with us Bast."

Bast looked down at her Fancy Feast.

"Sadie…" She sounded miserable. "Carter and I were talking and…well, someone has to check on Apophis's prison. We have to know what's going on, how close it is to breaking, and if there's a way to stop it. That requires a firsthand look."

"You're going back there? After all my parents did to free you?"

"I'll only approach the prison from the outside," she promised. "I'll be careful. I am a creature of stealth, after all. Besides, I'm the only one who knows how to find his cell, and that part of the Duat would be lethal to a mortal. I—I must do this."

Her voice trembled, and Percy didn't like that. Bast was always so fierce and fearless. "But-" Percy hesitated, "What about us?"

"Don't worry kitten." Bast shot Percy a reassuring smile, "I won't leave Carter and Sadie without protection." she gave a little wink, "I know you don't need it my little warrior. I have a... friend. He should arrive from the Duat by tomorrow. I've asked him to find you and protect you."

"A friend?" Sadie asked after a moment-and Bast squirmed.

"Well. Sort of."

That wasn't exactly promising. And Percy saw Sadie looking down at her clothes, an upset look on her face- and as awesome as Sadie was she wasn't a fighter like Percy. Percy could understand why the older girl was upset- yet again they were responsible for saving the world. Not fun.

"I'll get packed." Carter spoke up. "We can leave in an hour. Does that sound good with you Zia? Percy? Sadie?"

Sadie opened her mouth to speak but Percy beat her to it, standing up. "No." And Carter's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Percy... what-"

"Sadie and I are goin' to London."