I'm not really sure what some of the people who reviewed last chapter were going on about. I'm well aware that the Memphis University is not close to the Pyramid Arena, and I never made any claim that it was. I'm aware that it's no longer used as a sports arena, as is Rick Riordan, since he writes as much when he has Thoth announce his intent to move in. If you've got a problem with Thoth being in the pyramid instead of the university then I think you need to reread Chapter 25. This fic takes place about 3 months after the end of the Red Pyramid, which has given Thoth plenty of time to set up shop in his new dream home, add the big lab he was threatening to, as well as an office, a kitchen, music studio, birdbath, Elvis shrine, and whatever the heck else a bird-headed hippie god of wisdom feels like adding. And beings as the building's official name is The Pyramid Arena, adding to the fact that years ago I saw the most awesome boxing match of my life there, as well as the fact that they haven't turned it into anything else since they stopped using it for sports events, no matter what they've considered doing with it, the term 'arena' fits.

8

"What did you do!" Percy had Riptide out and was ready to see if Celestial Bronze worked on Egyptian gods.

"I assure you, he's perfectly fine," said Thoth. "I merely slipped a little something extra into his lemonade to help assist him in spirit walking."

"What?" demanded Percy. "What did you drug him with?"

"Merely a bit of lysergic acid diethylamide," said Thoth. "More commonly known by its acronym, LSD."

Percy's jaw dropped. He looked down at Nico, who appeared to be in a deep sleep, then back at Thoth and thought about testing out the Celestial Bronze again. "You gave my cousin acid? What in Hades is wrong with you? He's twelve-years-old for the gods' sake!"

"Exactly. The mental acuity needed to consciously will your spirit out of your body is far beyond his grasp. The LSD will aid him with that. He has probably already made it to the Duat, even as we speak, so if you'll excuse me . . ." Then Thoth disappeared. One second he was there, the next he wasn't. There was no fade out or flickering like in the movies and no time for Percy to react and cut off the stupid hippie's head.

"Damn it!" Percy shouted and kicked a desk. It fell over with a monumental crash, but Nico didn't even stir. He returned to his cousin's side and knelt down beside him, checking to make sure he was still breathing and that he still had a pulse.

"Well," said Sadie.

"Shut up," Percy told her.

"Sorry."

"I don't want to hear it." Percy shifted so that he sat beside Nico and crossed his arms, trying to think. The harder he tried to fix things the more messed up they seemed to get. It was hard to believe that only a week ago his biggest worry was passing English. Now he had to figure out a way to help his cousin cheat a prophecy in which he was supposed to destroy the world. We're really in a mess this time, Nico, he thought at his cousin, But I'll get you through it. I promise. And again he had to wonder if his cousin had some sort of telepathy, because at that moment Nico leaned against him in his sleep, his head coming to rest on Percy's shoulder.

Sadie snickered and Percy glared at her. "What?" he asked sharply.

"I was just thinking that from this angle, you two look like brothers," said Sadie. "You've both got dark hair and Caucasian features. But because of that Greek god DNA-less thing, you say you're really not related. While Carter and I don't look a thing alike, even though we're related by blood and have the exact same parents."

Percy shrugged the shoulder that Nico wasn't resting his head against. "Family is family." The words were out of his mouth before he even had time to consider them, but once he did he realized that he really did believe them. Even though family was such a sketchy concept to demigods, Percy wanted to protect what little he had. Or what little he could claim. His mother, of course, and Tyson, the only one of his hundreds of half brothers who he really acknowledged, or in return acknowledged him. His father too, though Poseidon didn't really need his protection. And his stepfather, Paul Blofis, who was becoming the father he always wished he had growing up. And now, Nico . . . The only one of his thousands of cousins and extended relatives who he acknowledged, and in return acknowledged him. He'd still be protecting the kid if they were just friends, and not invoking the family bond that pretty much made it his gods given right to stand beside Nico and help him however he needed it in the normal world. Loyalty was still his fatal flaw, after all. But somehow invoking that family bond made things different in a way Percy couldn't really explain. It made him and Nico closer than mere friends, even if they were best friends, like Percy and Grover were. It made Percy wonder if this was what it was like to have a normal family, with normal cousins.

"You know when I first met you, I thought you were a psychopath with a pegasus," confessed Sadie, interrupting Percy's musings "but you're actually okay."

"When I first met you guys, I was planning on cracking your skulls open if you'd hurt my cousin," said Percy. "It's a good thing you didn't hurt my cousin."
"Enough, Sadie," said Carter when Sadie scowled and opened her mouth to say something that was probably rude.

Then Percy heard something. Footsteps in the hallway. Someone was running toward them. Deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry, Percy gently moved Nico so that he could stand up, and moved toward the door, Riptide at the ready.

"What's wrong?" Carter asked, then he must have heard the footsteps too, because he pulled his sword out of thin air. Sadie produced her staff as well and spun it around several times before setting into a stance and pointing it at the door.

Then the door burst open and Bast rushed in. "Trouble," she told them, "Our friends from the House of Life are on their way. Where's Thoth?"

"That stupid hippie drugged my cousin with acid to send him into the spirit world, then went there himself," growled Percy.

"That's not good." Bast looked anxiously back at the hallway. "There's too many of them. The Memphis Nome has either called for reinforcements or increased in number since the last time we were here. Probably the latter, since this city's so filled with homage for Egyptian culture, and since they know Thoth's here."

"Great. Really nice time for Jahooty to send Death Boy on an acid trip," said Sadie. "So now what do we do?"

Percy hauled Nico off the ground and picked him up, shifting him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "We get the heck out of here."

Everything was fuzzy, but Nico could tell that he wasn't on earth anymore. He wasn't in Hades either. That only left one place that he knew of.

"Anubis?" he called, as he blinked several times quickly and shook his head, hoping that would clear his thoughts.

"Welcome back," said the familiar voice that he'd grown used to hearing inside his head. Only now it wasn't in his head. Anubis stood in front of him in his teenage guise, dressed in all black as usual.

"Where am I?"
"The Hall of Judgment," Anubis told him. "Thoth wanted to see if unfusing our souls here would be possible."

Nico kept blinking because things were still blurry. "And is it?"

"He's still doing some calculations."

Nico rubbed his eyes and finally everything became clear. He could see the infamous scales that he'd researched, where the human heart was weighed against a feather of truth. And curled up beneath them like a cat was . . .

"That can't be the Ammit, can it?" Nico asked, pointing at the poodle-sized creature.

"It is. The creature that strikes fear into the heart of every Egyptian, living or dead," Anubis answered in an ominous tone.

"Cerberus could so squash that little runt," sneered Nico.

Anubis gave him an unhappy look. "Ammit is big enough to do his job."

"His job? I thought the legends said the Ammit was a girl," said Nico.

"The legends got it wrong," returned Anubis. "Just like Mythomagic. Only giving Ammit 2800 attack power . . ."

"Well at least they got it right that the Cerberus card completely pwns Ammit," said Nico.

Anubis glared at him. "Someday we will have to settle this, man to man, Nico."

"Card to card," Nico agreed. "Hope you're ready to lose."

Right then Ammit, who'd been sleeping curled up like a cat, woke up and looked around. He spotted Nico and Anubis and jumped up and bounded toward them.

"Ammit, heel!" ordered Anubis, but Ammit didn't heel. He loped right over to Nico and leapt at him, knocking him backward.

Something broke Nico's fall but sent minor jolts of pain racing through his back. Or not really his back, but he didn't know how else to describe it. There was a sound like feathers rustling, but he grew distracted because Ammit was licking his face.

"No, Ammit! Bad boy!" Anubis hurried and picked the creature up, getting it off of Nico. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," muttered Nico. "Hellhounds usually knock me down and start jumping on my chest. You have no idea how many ribs I've cracked that way." He braced his hands against the floor to push himself up, but his fingers touched something soft that confused him. He turned his head to the side and saw black feathers. Lots of black feathers. "Huh? What's this?" he asked.

"Oh? You didn't notice?" asked Anubis, petting Ammit's head affectionately. "You have wings."

"I have wings?" Nico sat up without the aid of his hands. Sure enough, out the corners of his eyes he could see them now. Black feathered wings stretched out of his back, like a crow's or a fallen angel's. "How?" he demanded.

"I'm not positive," said Anubis.

"Did I have them last time I was here?"

"You did not."

"Why do I have them now then?"

Anubis shrugged. "Most ba are in a form like a bird with their human head. Those are, I suppose you could call it, the default settings for spirits in the Duat. You don't exactly belong here, but I suppose now that our souls are fused you belong here now more than last time, so your form has adapted."

"Maybe," muttered Nico. "When demigods spirit walk, we look like we do when we're human, except mostly transparent. I guess to most people and demigods we're completely transparent. No other demigod that I know of can see spirit walkers when they're present. I assume that's because of who my dad is. Spirit walkers are almost the same thing as ghosts after all."

"Perhaps," said Anubis. "But whatever the reason, you have wings now."

"I won't still have them when I go back, will I?" demanded Nico. "Because even though flying is fun, it'll be damned inconvenient trying to get on the subway, or lay down on a sofa. And if I fly too high then Zeus is going to smite me. Oh, and my dad will definitely know something's up if I suddenly have wings."

"You should not have them when you return," said Anubis.

"How did I even get here in the first place?"

"Thoth put a little something extra in your drink."

"Gods damned hippie," muttered Nico. "How long is this going to take, anyway?"

"Time passes differently between this world and yours," said Anubis. "I cannot accurately predict how much time will have passed before you return. It could be seconds or minutes. It shouldn't be more than a day this time."

"A day?" spluttered Nico. "We're on a time limit, remember?"

"We also have that prophecy to consider, remember?"

"Of course I remember! It's kind of hard to forget a prophecy where you're the one who's supposed to cause the apocalypse!" shouted Nico. "But have you considered that failing to stop my dad from starting a war with someone will probably be the first step to making that prophecy come true? If we stop him from blowing up the House of Life or trying to take out your entire pantheon, we'll probably at least delay the end of the world."

"Bad news," said Thoth, suddenly appearing right between Nico and Anubis.

"Ah!" Nico jumped back in shocked and fumbled to get his switchblade out of his pocket.

"I can see no way to separate your souls," said Thoth. "They seem to blend into each other seamlessly, like pigments mixed in paint. The two of you are literally stuck together."

"So this has all been for nothing," said Nico. "Good to know."

"The pursuit of knowledge is never for nothing!" Thoth sounded quite affronted.

"It is when it wastes my time," growled Nico. "Can I go back now? Percy's probably about to tear up your office because of this."

"Yes, the young man seemed quite angry about the lysergic acid diethylamide." Thoth frowned. "Though oddly, it seems that your physical body is not where it was when you left it. Most odd."

"So they moved me to a chair or into a corner. Big deal."

"No, no. You're more than a hundred yards away," said Thoth.

"Well then Percy probably wanted to keep me away from you," said Nico. "Drugging people is usually considered both rude and illegal, so you should be able to understand why he's pissed off."

"Yes, yes." Thoth sounded distracted and probably hadn't really heard what Nico said. "Well, I suppose I've learned all that I can for now, so I might as well send you back. Do come back and visit though. You're the most interesting thing I've stumbled across since blues music. Come back for another barbeque sometimes." With that, he pointed a wand shaped like an ankh at Nico and some hieroglyphics glowed in the air around him. The next thing Nico knew he was being catapulted through time and space, back into his body.

Percy, the Kanes, and Bast made it out of the pyramid and into the parking-lot, but then their luck ran out. A dozen House of Life magicians blocked their path to the car which Bast had left running.

"Not good," said Sadie.

Percy made a tactical decision. "Keep running!" he ordered. Keeping Nico safe right now was his top priority, and getting away was the surest way to do that.

The magicians gave chase, so Percy headed for the river.

"Wait!" called Sadie. "We can't shake them that way!"

"Yes we can!" Percy shouted back to her.

The Mississippi River was peaceful that night, which meant Percy wouldn't have to fight against a rough current for control, which was good. He would have preferred if it was saltwater, but he couldn't have everything.

"I hope you have a plan," huffed Carter as they reached the river bank.

"I do," said Percy. He held up his hand and concentrated, calling out to the water. A path opened in the water, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side through. It was just like he'd done in the River Lethe back when Hades' sword had been stolen last year, only much, much easier since the river wasn't supernatural and trying to fight him, and since he didn't have a wound caused by a spirit of pestilence slowly poisoning him.

But there was one draw back this time. The Mississippi River was much wider than the Lethe had been. Percy was only able to stretch his path about a quarter of the way across. He'd have to get closer to the end of his pathway before he would be able to stretch it further.

"Nice trick," said Sadie, hurrying to take the lead. Carter and Bast ran right after her. Percy followed them and tried to close the path behind him so that the House of Life freaks couldn't follow, but somehow the water fought his control. He pushed harder with his power but when that didn't work, he turned to see what was wrong.

Then he realized. One of the House of Life magicians had frozen the water, changing it into ice.

"Crap," muttered Percy as the sides of his pathway began to freeze so that he couldn't cut it off anywhere along the line. The ice extended all the way to the end and cut off their escape, turning it into an icy dead end.

"Uh, we might have a problem here," said Sadie.

"Can you control ice?" asked Carter.

"I've never tried," Percy admitted, even though he was trying at that very moment, willing the ice to unthaw and turn back into water. He might as well have been willing pigs to fly for all the good it was doing. "It's not working."

"Another question, then," said Carter. "Can everyone here swim?"

"Of course," said Percy, wondering what kind of question that was. He was the son of the sea god.

"Sadie?"

"Well enough."

Bast made a hissing sound. "I hate swimming."

"We don't have much of a choice right now," said Carter. He pointed his sword at the magicians who were following them into the icy path, then veered its aim to the side so it was pointing at the wall beside and a few steps behind them. "Ha-di!"

Ice cracked and gave way, then water began rushing in. Percy took control of it with his powers and sent it crashing down on top of their enemies. If the House of Life freaks felt like freezing it again, they'd have to freeze it over themselves.

"Now in front of us!" Percy ordered.

Carter obeyed. "Ha-di!" he shouted again, pointing at the ice wall blocking their path. It cracked and fell apart and Percy parted the water beyond it, creating a new path.

"No you don't!" shouted one of the magicians. A forest of reeds sprouted out of the riverbed, blocking their way. Within mere seconds the reeds were five feet high.

"We don't have time for this!" growled Percy. He surged forward to help Carter hack down the reeds, but was hampered by having to balance his cousin over one shoulder.

"Mmmm . . . wha?" Nico's sleepy voice could barely be heard over the hacking of reeds. "Huh? Ah!"

"Great, Death Boy's awake," said Sadie. "Just to fill you in, we're running for our lives from our House of Life friends. Nice of you to join us."

"We're . . . escaping?" asked Nico.

"We're trying," Percy told him.

"Stop right there!" shouted one of their magician enemies. "You can't win! And you can't get away!"

Percy had just started to wonder if maybe the magician was right when Nico said something very, very scary.

"Don't bet on that, crow bait," the son of Hades whispered.

"Nico," said Percy warningly, "Don't. You're under the influence and you're not strong enough-"

He felt Nico grab onto his arm with both hands and the shadows around all of them thickened for the fourth time that night. Darkness reached out to swirl around Bast and the Kanes too, and suddenly they were falling into the black hole of shadow travel.

Their landing this time was the worst one yet. Percy and Nico were flung into a tombstone. Carter ended up on top of a mausoleum, Bast narrowly missed being skewered on an iron cast picket fence, and Sadie was thrown right into a tree.

Percy staggered and only barely managed to avoid dropping Nico on his head. He grabbed onto the tombstone with his free hand and steadied himself, then lowered Nico to the ground. "Hey, you okay, Nico? Nico?"

Nico's face was so pale, he looked like a corpse with freezer burn. His lips were blue and his eyes were open, the pupils dilated the maximum amount they possibly could be.

"Nico!" Percy started to shake his cousin before realizing that probably wasn't the best thing to do. He took out his canteen of nectar and poured about a thimbleful into Nico's mouth, then tilted his head back to make sure it went down his throat. Several moments later Nico started coughing and tried to sit up. "Hey, take it easy," Percy told him, pressing him back to the ground. "Rest a little bit. You're lucky you're not in a coma by now."

"Percy?" asked Nico.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What are all those pretty lights, Percy?" Nico asked, reaching up with one hand and moving it around as though he was trying to capture fireflies that only he could see.

"I'm pretty sure that they're a side effect of your acid trip," Percy told him. Belatedly he wondered if it had been a good idea mixing LSD and nectar, but it was too late to do anything about it now.

"Oh." Nico accepted his answer and let his hand fall to his chest.

"Can someone help me get down from here?" asked Carter from atop the mausoleum.

"Forget you!" shouted Sadie. "Someone help me!"

Getting the Kane siblings back on the ground took some time, but that was alright. It gave Nico a little bit of time to recuperate, which Percy could tell he needed. Anubis showed up in his teenage form to give them a hand and inform them that Nico had shadow traveled them back to Elmwood Cemetery, a pretty amazing feat considering how many times he'd already used that trick that evening, and since he was very obviously stoned.

"I think he probably needs a meal," Anubis said, looking down at Nico who was doing a pretty good impersonation of a corpse. "And some uninterrupted sleep."

"You're right," agreed Percy. "Are there any all night restaurants around here?"

Five minutes later, they were on their way to a nearby pancake house, Percy carrying the drowsy Nico on his back again.

They got to the restaurant with no more mishaps, though the waitress did give them an odd look when they came in the door.

"Isn't it past those kids' bed time?" she asked Bast with a raised eyebrow.

"Does it really matter?" returned Bast. "Or do you not serve pancakes to minors?"

"No need to be cheeky," the waitress said and led them to a booth. She sent a dubious look at Percy and Nico as Percy slid his sleeping cousin off his back and maneuvered him into the booth. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Percy told her. "Just really tired. It's been a long day."

They ordered and a few minutes later the waitress brought them their drinks. Then they had to wait quite a bit longer for the rest of their food. An awkward silence settled over the table. Percy had no idea how to fill it. Nico was acting like a zombie, and Percy didn't really have much common ground with the magicians or their pet god. So there really wasn't much to talk about.

Thankfully Nico perked up a bit after chugging his cup of black coffee. Percy switched Nico's empty mug with his almost full cup, and after a few swallows Nico blinked owl-like and looked around at the restaurant then at Percy. "Where are we," he asked.

"A pancake house," Percy told him. "It's between two and four in the morning, I think."

"Have we ordered yet?"

"Yes. I ordered for you."

"No health food."

"No." Percy smiled. "I ordered you a stack of chocolate chip pancakes, some fried eggs, and a side of bacon."

Nico gave a tired smile and took another drink of coffee. "Sounds good."

"You feeling alright?"

"Yeah . . . just tired." Nico unconsciously leaned against Percy again, for support.

"The two of you really do seem like brothers," commented Sadie.

Nico gave her a confused look. "Huh?"

"I was telling Percy earlier that you two seem more like siblings than Carter and I do," Sadie told him.

Nico's expression darkened. "Siblings are over-rated. Family is over-rated."

"That's not true," said Carter. "Family can be difficult at times, but it's important. Who else can you count on to be there for you when you really need someone?"

"Just about anyone else," answered Nico.

"You've got Percy here for you now, and I don't think you've ever needed someone to help you more," Sadie reminded him.

"Yeah, but we're not really family," said Nico sounding very irritated.

"Bullocks," Sadie said firmly.

"Can you really sit right there, leaning against your cousin, and claim that you're not real family?" asked Carter.

Nico blinked and looked at Percy, and realized that he was indeed leaning against him. He tried to sit up straight again, and managed to for about two seconds, then his muscles failed him and he slumped against Percy again. Nico started to try once more, and braced himself against the table with both hands, but Percy stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"It's fine, Nico," he told him. "Just rest."

"Sorry, Percy," muttered Nico.

"I just said it's fine. I don't mind," Percy told him. Honestly, he much preferred Nico leaning against him than any other guy. Grover, would have been either drooling or taking bites out of his shirt, and his half brother Tyson would have been really freaking heavy.

"I mean sorry about what I just said," Nico told him. "Those two are right . . . for once."

Sadie scowled while Carter chuckled. Percy couldn't help but give a slight laugh too.

It was then that, finally, their waitress returned to their table with their food. She slid each plate in front of the person who'd ordered it, or in Nico's case, who it had been ordered for, then refilled Nico's and Percy's coffee cups.

The waitress shook her head when Nico immediately drained his cup, despite the fact that it was so hot it was still steaming. "Kids are drinking coffee younger and younger these days." She tapped Percy on the shoulder after she filled it yet again. "You make sure you set a good example for your little brother. It's obvious you have a lot of influence over him."

Sadie and Bast snickered and Carter coughed to try to cover a laugh. Percy glanced sideways at Nico, a little worried about what his reaction would be, but thankfully Nico didn't look mad or upset. He actually looked amused.

"Yeah, Percy, set a good example for me," Nico teased him once the waitress had walked away. "Don't do irresponsible stuff like riding hellhounds or swimming in the Styx, because you know I'm so impressionable and influenced by you."

Percy smirked. "In that case I better call the waitress back here and order us some nice tall glasses of orange juice and some un-sugared grapefruit halves –"

"No! Never mind! Forget it!" Nico grabbed his plate and dug in, glancing warily at Percy every now and again.

Percy laughed and started in on his blueberry pancakes.

I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter up. I was visiting relatives then immediately after went to basketball camp, and injured my dominant hand there. Or rather my hand was deliberately injured by my biggest rival in a weight room "accident", and I've had to have surgery on it, will need another operation soon, and now my summer plans are in disarray. I love sports. I had a shot a real shot at making the varsity BBall team even though I'm going into my sophomore year, but now I won't be finishing that basketball camp or attending the other one that I signed up for in July. Summer swim team is out too b/c my hand is in a cast and I can't get it in the right position for the strokes. I'll still be able to go to my karate/kickboxing classes. My sensei is being great, agreeing to work with my injury, or rather overlook it and just have me only use one hand and keep the injured one wrapped in padding and scale back my workouts. My typing abilities have dropped off dramatically as well. This chapter is shorter than any but the first, I think, but took me about ten times as long to type.

There's only one potential benefit to this whole situation. I'm testing out cross country running since it's the only school sport that I can actually participate in right now. There's no JV CC team, so it's possible that I'll be able to letter in it, get my jacket a year early, and start my collection of pins and letters early too. I never would have considered cross country if I could still play BBall, which I'd honestly much rather do. But that's not an option anymore, but neither is sitting around doing nothing. It'll piss my bitch rival off to see me in my letterman jacket this winter. Unless some of the other girls are holding back, I'd say I'm the fourth fastest right now. I've started running 2 miles every morning and 3 every evening. Going to try to build up to 4 miles every morning and evening and become the second fastest girl on the team.

I'll stop complaining and scheming now. I just needed to vent for a couple paragraphs since I haven't said much of this out loud. What all this means for you guys is basically I'll have more time to write this summer, it looks like, but I probably won't be much more productive than I had been since it's taking me so long to type. I'm planning to reread all of the PJatO books and try to keep Percy and Nico in character better. I'll also be trying to add some more Kane Chronicles emphasis in, for those who requested it. I haven't had time to let Carter and Sadie reveal their backstory to Nico and Percy yet. They've been too busy running and fighting for their lives, but next chapter Carter and Percy get to have a heart to heart and Anubis will reveal somethings that make Nico see Sadie in a new light.