This chapter is longer than the last one. Hope no one in this story is OOC. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own HoO or KN.


Carter's POV

Oh, Sadie, Sadie, Sadie! Why didn't you listen to your bigger brother? If you did we would not get into this mess. Now we have to fight the ogres along with our initiates! I learned that their name was Earthborn through reading some Greek mythology books (I was just bored at the time). These things had fought a guy name Jason thousand of years ago. Why did they appeared now to attack us, I have no idea.

Okay, let me explain how Sadie got us all in this. After the battle of Apophis, the gods all go back to their original kingdom. Me, Carter Kane, and my sister, Sadie Kane, run the Brooklyn House to teach our students. We have more than ten initiates already, and more were on their way. We still goes to normal school, but for me I want to stay back because: a) I wanted to protect Brooklyn House in case some dangers come to it and b) I didn't think I will be able to blend in the students. Sadie always said I look like a professor. Really, I just wore like my dad did, who is Julius Kane, back in the time when my dad was still alive, still travel the world, and still a magician. Now he was ruling the Land of the Dead, hosting the god Osiris, so me and Sadie will not get to see him much.

So that was our background, now to the problem we are in. Sadie was the one that come up with the idea. She said, "If regular schools let their students go on trip occasionally, why wouldn't we?". She suggested we vote, and it came out I am the only one against it (I can't believe even Zia agreed on the idea). I reasoned that we should use the time we went on trips to study magic and we shouldn't go because it will not be safe. Well, Sadie's reason is that everyone's vote outnumber him, so it was decided. Brooklyn House's members will get to go on field trips occasionally. Although I can't argued with them, I thought she means "occasionally" like every once in six months.

Guess what? After voting on the idea of going on field trips, my sister asked everyone to vote on where we should go. She said our trip will start on this Saturday, which is two days from today. I argued (again) that our students need their magic lessons, and we should wait for a few months. Sadie replied with something like, "Carter, did you ever heard teachers in school said field trips are educational? So if our students go on one, they can practice what they learn from us". After leaving me speechless, Sadie explain their plan that they will visit Rome in two days. So that's also settled.

Our uncle, Amos Kane, had come visit us. After hearing my sister's ridiculous plan, Amos said we can go on field trips, but it should not be Rome. He explained there was some mysterious magical forces that we should avoid. And he concluded by saying we can't even make a portal there. I guessed Sadie's plan is ruined.

Fortunately, Sadie said she wouldn't go to Rome. Unfortunately, she means the trip wouldn't be to Rome "directly". My sister gathered everyone and announced the changes in her plan. Instead going straight to Rome, they would make a portal near Rome, and the city she decided on is Tivoli. After that, they will use some sort of transportation, like a train, and head to Rome.

Uncle Amos still doesn't like the idea on Rome. He suggested we should avoid "problems that were not our". Although I don't understand that, I was glad at least Amos was on my side against part of Sadie's idea.

So today was Saturday, and fortunately for some initiates their family need them, so they can't go on the trip. That leave the seven original students that fight with us in the House of Life, along with Zia, Sadie and me.

When we came to Tivoli, it seem like Sadie's idea of "field trips are educational and students can practice what they learn" apply to the group immediately. Fifty or so Earthborns rose from the ground, and the smell was unbelievable. Each guy seems to live six months without a shower, and all of them are the same.

Who know that the Kane will always get bad luck?

We summoned our weapons. Since the gods had left, Sadie and I had to go on our own, with no adult supervision (except Walt, the host of Anubis). We were outnumbered ten or more to one, and I have one hand holding my staff* while the other holding my nose. But the Earthborns seem easy to kill. With one Ha-di strike from me, the Earthborn in front of me crumble to mud.

I glanced around and saw everyone was fighting their own group of Earthborns. Zia was using her fire power and threw fireballs at the them. Alyssa, with her path of Geb, can easily twisted her hand and the Earthborns just become a pool of mud. Sadie just used some basic commands like I did, and once in a while, she would grumble something about the smell overpowering the piece of gum she's chewing.

With that thought, she pointed her staff to one of the Earthborns, speak a command, and the poor thing become a large pack of gum the size of a table.

"That's better", she muttered.

The battle continued. Then I spotted something far in the distance. When it get closer, I can see it was a bronze ship, shining on the sky, and was... flying toward us?

I can only made out the shape of humans on the ship. One of them turned and disappeared inside, while the other keep looking at the battle. Because the ship was high from the ground, I can't see their faces or hear what they're yelling.

Apparently, while I was staring at the ship, the Earthborns recovered enough to hold pile of mud in their hands that quickly hardened and became rocks. I turn my attention back to the battle, speak the command N'dah, and a shield surrounded me milliseconds before the Earthborns launched a volley of rocks on me. I knew the shield wouldn't last, and now I can't destroy an Earthborn without letting the others throwing rocks at me at the same time.

Finally, an Earthborn exploded as the sound went KA-BOOM, making a hole where it had stood. It was a sound like a cannon, but this was way more destructive. Another shot using the same weapon fired at the ogres around them. The Earthborns were reduced to piles of mud, making the ground looked disgusting. But there were still a lot of them left. As the ship descended lower, I can hear voices of the people on there, telling someone to get ready. Maybe they're trying to eliminated the Earthborns, so they can capture me and the others easier? Without giving it much thoughts, I saw the humans there got on the ground, weapons ready.

The first guy that came out from the ship was muscular, with blond hair and sky blue eyes. He was holding a gold sword and he ran to the nearest Earthborn, sliced it with his sword without using much strength, and the monster crumbled. Next to him was a beautiful girl who has brown hair and strange eyes. Everytime I look at it, the color changed from brown to blue to green. She doesn't have a weapon at her hand, but when she said "Stop!" to the Earthborns, they seem to listen to her. Even my body stopped at that command.

The others came out. I saw three boys and another girl. The boy with curly black hair that had a crazy grin was searching for something in his tool belt. Then he took out a hammer that was way too big for the belt's pocket. The second boy had dark brown eyes and his face looked pale. Through the way he walked, he still need some rest, but he managed to stabbed his black sword on the ground, and two skeletons that wore clothes from the Roman time broke through the surface, looked at the boy as if for a command, and charged at the Earthborns. The other girl with long brown hair and golden eyes seem to be just fine charging the monsters with her spatha. The guy with the babyish face changed himself into a bear (huh?), and went along with the golden-eyes-girl.

Everything happened too suddenly and too strangely that I haven't realized my protect spell was gone, and nothing has attacked me yet. I looked around and saw Sadie and the others standing still, watching the battle of the monster with the newcomers. It seems like the Earthborns had completely ignored us. Sadie and Zia walked up to me, my sister whispering, "Why did they suddenly leave us?". I was confused also, considered the fact that everyone were fine.

We watched as every Earthborns was reduced to original mud. After many stabbing and slicing, nothing was left except the piles of mud and traces of their terrible smell.

The blond-and-blue-eyes guy was approaching us with his other friends, some looking at us, some looking at our wands and staffs.

I whispered to Sadie. "Pretend to be normal people. And don't said anything before thinking about it."

My sister replied me with a smirk, her face saying "Yes, I know".

When they came, I said, "Hello, um... do we know you?"

The blue eyes guy said, "I supposed we never meet. But is what you're holding a weapon?"

The guy pointed to my staff. I thought normal people wouldn't see it. But apparently, if they're normal people, they wouldn't have swords or changing ability either.

"Um... What in my hand is called a staff. But who are you and why do you guys help us?", I asked them the question that's in my head since they came to the battle.

The guy seemed to be more careful. He looked around at his friends, and as they nodded, he turn his attention back to me. "What did you see in my hand?", the guy said as he swung his sword back and forth.

"Well", my sister spoke up. "If it isn't a sword, I'd say it is a very long, gold stick."

He studied Sadie, like she was someone he just noticed. Then he looked back and forth between us. "I guessed you guy are related. And yes, mortals will see this sword in my hand as something else, maybe a gun or a baseball bat. But the Mist doesn't covered it from you guys. Maybe...", the guy let that comment hang. He looked back to his friends once more, as if to ask them "do we tell them?".

This time the beautiful girl spoke up. "Hi, my name is Piper. We're called half-blood, or demigod. Our parents, one is mortal, and the other is Greek gods or goddesses. For instance, I am a child of Aphrodite, while Jason here is the son of Jupiter."

I'm confused at this Greek thing. "So the blue-eyes guy over here is the same guy thousand years ago?", I asked.

Sadie and the others look at me amazed, while the girl Piper was trying to hold a laugh. "No. Jason always got comments like that. But he was not the ancient time Jason. His name just happened to be the same."

While I was thinking about what Jason said, the guy with the tool belt come up to him. "Hello! My name is Leo Valdez. These are my friends: Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Nico. As Piper said, we're demigods. Are you one, too?"

I never read any books that mention about demigods, probably because I have no interest in Greek mythology. But I knew for sure I am not one. "Um... I know I'm not a demigod. Because neither my dad or mom is a Greek god or relate to Greek."

"Hmm...", the guy Leo introduced as Nico said. "Then how come you guys have weapons and know how to fight the Earthborns?"

"The Earth what?", Sadie, being the one never read anything, said.

"He said Earthborns, monsters that once fight the other Jason thousand of years ago", I explained to her.

The whole group of magicians and demigods (that's what I thought) appeared to be very surprised at this. Sadie's face was the most funny of the group. Her face either said "How did you know that?" or "why do you care to read Greek myths?".

Finally after some gasped, I said, "Well, that was something I read in Greek mythology. But the main point is, we're not normal people or demigods, either."

"Then who are you?", Jason asked.

I know that it may take the whole morning to explain Jason's question. But I tried to summarized the story in just a few sentences. "I'm Carter, and this is my sister Sadie. The other are our students at Brooklyn House. And we're magicians."


I will put up chapter 3, maybe tomorrow. Review guys, it always encourage me to write more :)

And Happy New Year to everyone!