Percy is chaotic, and Set actually likes her.
Replies:
Undeath9087: Percy likes to do crazy things, that's always the most fun.
Ryan Fowler: Oh yeah, Percy thrives on chaos let's face it.
Rage2091: She didn't really want to free Set, but Percy is smart, smart enough to know that they weren't going to get out of there on their own and the only potential ally who would get them out is Set.
Guest: You'll have to wait and see how Menshikov knows about Percy, and how much he knows. It should be interesting.
Guest: You'll just have to wait and see.
Guest: Menshikov has plans and some of them involve Percy. He has his reasons for why he's doing the things he does. He needs her alive, and the House would generally kill someone like her.
Guest: Well that's something you'll have to wait and find out.
Percy could hear everyone in the room screaming- could hear Menshikov's furious "Nyet!"
She could hear Carter, Sadie and Zia all screaming her name.
And quietly she could hear Set, voice, "Oh you won't regret this little Kane." And then the stone vase exploded against Percy-and she felt shards of it cutting into her arms and chest, and out of it exploded a sandstorm but instead of blasting Percy it burst out around them and she felt a strong arm gripping her wrist and hauling her feet- and when the whirling storm of sand had cleared enough for Percy to see the first thing she did see was Set.
He was tall, he had skin the color of cherry Kool-Aid, a shaved head, a dark goatee, and glittering black eyes lined with kohl. He looked like an Egyptian devil ready for a night on the town.
Percy turned her head slowly- Sadie, Carter and Zia were staring with wide eyes where they'd been sent flying into the fireplace- a two headed snake had been blasted into a malachite column and Vlad Menshikov had been blasted right out of his protective circle and banged his head on a table. He had crumpled to the ground, and he was now buried in a pile of red sand.
Percy's attention was drawn back to Set as he beamed widely, brushing her down, getting rid of the red sand that had clung to her shoulders- though she was still covered in a layer of the sand everywhere else. "Why thank you Persephone Kane, I feel much better
now."
"You have to help us." Percy's voice shook slightly, she was terrified and in pain. "Please-"
"Why how nicely you're asking." Set looked delighted, "You know, I think you might be my favorite Kane- you're a little ball of chaos yourself. If only you were evil, you'd have made an excellent ally-" and Percy could see the two headed snake moving- it was horrible, it had four dragon legs and it was the size of a draft horse, curved like a U, with mottled red and green scales and a rattlesnake head on either side. It was trying to get back on its feet. And to make matters worse the pile of red sand covering Vlad Menshikov started to move.
"Evil Day!" Sadie called out, "Get rid of them."
Set winced, "You know, I like your sister much better than I like you Sadie Kane. There's no need to get personal with the names, I'd have helped you in any case- I owe little Percy here a debt."
"Maybe you'd prefer Rockin' Red Reaper?" Carter's voice was thick with sarcasm.
Set made a picture frame with his fingers, as if imagining that name on his driver's license. "Yes…that is nice, isn't it?"
The tjesu heru staggered to its feet. It shook both heads and glared at Carter, Sadie and Zia, but it seemed to ignore Set and Percy, even though Set was the one who'd slammed it against the wall. "It has beautiful coloration, doesn't it?" Set asked. "A gorgeous specimen."
"Just kill it!" Carter yelled the words, "And let go of Percy-"
"Oh come now I'm not hurting her." and Percy realised that Set's hand was on her shoulder again- though he was being honest, he wasn't hurting her. "And I couldn't kill it. I'm much too fond of snakes. Besides, GETM would have my hide."
"Get 'em?" Carter's voice was confused.
"Gods for the Ethical Treatment of Monsters."
"You're making that up!"
Set grinned. "Still…I'm afraid you'll have to deal with the tjesu heru on your own."
The monster hissed at them, and Carter raised his sword to keep it at bay.
The pile of red sand shifted. Menshikov's dazed face rose from the top. Set snapped his fingers, and a large ceramic pot appeared in the air, shattering on the magician's head. Menshikov slipped back into the sand.
"I'll stay here and entertain Vladimir," Set said.
"Can't you execrate him, or something?" Sadie demanded.
"Oh, I wish! Unfortunately, I'm rather limited when someone holds my secret name, especially when they've given me specific orders not to kill them." He stared accusingly at Sadie. "At any rate, I may be able to buy you a few minutes, but Vlad is going to be quite mad when he comes around, so I'd hurry, if I were you. Good luck surviving! And good luck eating them, tjesu heru! Percy-" Set pushed her hard, and Percy almost flew towards the others- Zia caught her halfway, stopping her from falling flat on her face.
"Run!" Carter screamed the word, because the tjesu heru was lunging at them- Percy didn't even have time to think because Zia was dragging her, and together they raced through the nearest door out into a polished marble hallway that was very much not designed for running.
Behind them the two-headed tjesu heru skidded and slammed into walls as it tried to turn corners. If Percy wasn't so terrified she'd probably be cackling with laughter.
As it was all Percy could do was run, Carter and Sadie leading the way, Zia making sure Percy kept up- which honestly she was struggling with, her arms and chest were hurting- she couldn't really tell with the sand all over her but she was pretty sure she was bleeding.
They ran for what felt like forever when it happened- clearly some kind of alert had gone up, and a group of magicians burst out from a door in the corridor that they were sprinting through- and Percy was caught by a blast- she cried out as she was sent flying- it happened so fast that she couldn't even defend herself- she went smashing through a door into another room.
She could hear Carter's voice calling her name, and then Zia's yelling; "We'll catch up with you!"
Percy pushed herself up from where she'd landed- a polished solid oak table- it was impressive really, it had taken the force of her landing very well- of course that meant that her back was aching from where she'd smashed into it.
As she pushed herself onto her elbows three magicians burst into the room, wands and staffs at the ready- fortunately for Percy Zia was less than a second behind them, she used her staff to smash one of them over the head- it wasn't very magical but it worked, and she chanted a spell and the other two magicians passed out- it had to be a sleeping spell- then Zia was next to Percy, her eyes wide ."Are you okay?"
"I'm fine-"
"Fine-" Zia's expression was incredulous, "You're bleeding Percy." and that made Percy look down at herself- and sure enough the panicked escape had gotten rid of most of the sand that had clung to Percy's clothes, and she could see that she was indeed bleeding- there were several slashes in the fabric of her dress on her arms, and three nasty slices on her torso- one of them a downward slash over her sternum, one a gash down her left side, and the final one was a short but heavily bleeding cut on her stomach.
"Oh." Percy blinked slowly, "I am."
"That isn't good," Zia looked incredibly worried, "Healing isn't one of my strong points."
"Just get us out of here and then we can deal with it."
"Persephone Kane-"
"Zia is now really the time to argue?"
"You are not to try and fight anything." Zia's voice was sharp, "If I could I would carry you." she pressed her lips together before pulling some supplies out of her bag, "There will be others coming- an invisibility spell is our best chance of escaping,.
Of course." Percy nodded quickly- and soon enough Zia had cast the spell- and she really was much more proficient at it than Carter was.
Once it was cast Zia held out her hand, "Come now, I'll help you."
"I'm not a baby." Percy grumbled, but she let Zia help her to her feet- and she didn't say anything else when Zia slid an arm around her, supporting her weight- and gods but her back was aching. And her arms.
And her whole body basically. Really it just wasn't very fun. Next time Percy blew up a vase she'd have to make sure that she wasn't literally on top of it.
Then they headed out, there were some magicians rushing around but none of them saw through Zia's spell, and soon the two girls made it outside, and it was easy enough to see where Carter and Sadie had gone- they just had to follow the trail of footprints in the snow- they almost ran into a young magician on the way out- he looked like he'd seen a ghost as he fled past them- and Percy and Zia exchanged terrified looks and sped up.
When they arrived Percy and Zia both screamed- Sadie was sat in the snow, Carter was in her lap, he was clearly injured, shivering with his eyes rolled back in his head and there were two puncture wounds in his coat which were smoking.
Sadie's head snapped up at the screams- and Zia was upset enough that the spell slipped, and Sadie let out a sob, "Thank the gods you two are here- it bit him I couldn't stop it-"
"Carter!" Zia looked close to tears as she let her arm slip out from under Percy and she rushed to Sadie's side. "We must get him help- there- the poison-"
"Is he gonna be okay?" Percy felt frozen as she stared at her brother as Sadie and Zia dragged him upwards to his feet. She had never seen him looking so-so helpless and weak before. The sight made her sick to her stomach-and it made her think of the dreams, of that voice.
She wasn't strong enough to protect them. Carter was hurt and there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing she could do to save him, to protect him. He could die and she was utterly helpless to stop it.
"Nope." the voice was familiar and too cheerful- Percy couldn't help herself as she let out a growl and swung around, fingers curling into a fist- which smashed into Set's stomach.
Admittedly it didn't do very much damage but the god did laugh. "I do like you Percy Kane- which is why I haven't killed you yet." and then he was picking her up bridal style, ignoring her yelp. "Let's get you four out of here now shall we. Vladimir is not in a good mood. He might even hurt you Percy, and you're the only one he wants alive." And Percy shot Sadie and Zia a panicked look- and they both looked as shocked as she felt- and they all came to the same silent conclusion.
None of them were up to fighting Set. But Sadie and Percy both knew his Secret name. If he wanted to help them- saying no would not be a good idea at this stage.
So Set came with them, Sadie and Zia worked together to carry Carter-who was very much not in good condition-his breathing sounded almost as bad as Vlad the Inhalers had.
Meanwhile Percy felt very uncomfortable being carried by Set- oh he wasn't hurting her-and it wasn't actually physically
uncomfortable but- the god had tried to kill them multiple times- and he'd hurt her before- tried to poison her- to steal her magic so that she'd be helpless and unable to protect Carter and Sadie. So having him helping them, not running away from him- it grated at something inside of her.
But there was no choice, so Percy sucked up those feelings, gripping the sparkly red suit tightly.
"If you betray us-" her voice was surprisingly steady as Set shifted his gaze to look at her, "If you dare do anything that puts my family at risk again. I will find a way to end you. Permanently. No matter what I have to do."