Chapter 4

Bartimaeus

OK, here's another chapter. I think this is the longest thing I have ever written here, so enjoy it. It's not going to happen again any time soon. RE: MaiWishe's comment: I hadn't thought of that. I thought that to bring a spirit to Earth, you need a pentacle, but you have a point about the spices. I took that part out. Enjoy :)

I let myself be absorbed into the endless swirl of the Other Place. I should count myself lucky that Nathaniel decided to pull off another Ptolemy… Ptolemy, that was the center of the issue. In the short space of five hours, two people had relived his memory. They put trust in me. The first to do so in two thousand years. Two thousand, one hundred and twenty nine years, to be exact.

No, I had to stop thinking about him. About them. I had had a long and successful career by letting go of the past and concentrating on whatever was attacking me at the moment.

I let myself go, let myself blend into the Other Place. I was in a strange mood, I realized. On the bright side, no one knew I survived the crystal palace incident. Finally I'd get some rest.

The multicolored flecks swirled, up and down, dancing, intertwining in an endless loop. Suddenly, everything froze. I found myself shooting backwards, through the elemental walls and back again to the human world. I cursed silently. Who could it be? Last time I checked, the British Empire had been crumbling, falling into chaos (1). And it was a strong summons too. Made by someone experienced. No second-rater from a falling empire could have summoned me. Except… I made the connection. Yes, it would be just like her to realize I had survived. Well, if it were who I thought it was, most of my guises would be useless, offensive to her delicate eyes. I rolled my eyes (2). Some people just don't get the art of choosing a form.

(1) More chaos than usual. The human world is just one big jumble of a mess; the humans are just too stupid to see it for themselves.
(2) Metaphorically, of course. I didn't have a solid form at the time.

I materialized in the center of a pentacle and settled down in Ptolemy's form, careful with the boundaries of the pentacles. I didn't want to embarrass myself like last time…

"Kitty Jones," I said, a smug grin creeping up my face. I really was glad to see her, even though I'd never admit it to her. She wore her hair short and cropped. She had died it, even though the silvery gray was starting to peek at the roots. Her face, though heavily lined, looked better than expected. Her eyes, like two emeralds, shone bright and defiant, showing still the strength of her resistance days. She stood at the center of her own, smaller pentacle, hip cocked, hand on hip.

"What do you want, Kitty?" I said softly but somewhat impatiently. "I'm going to need at least fifty more years of rest to recover from the trauma of meeting you and Nathaniel." Her lips tensed. I smiled more widely and cheerfully, "What, still a sore subject? At least four years should have passed since he, well, died."

"Five,"

"Anyways. To what do I have the honors of being so rudely ripped from my place of rest," I continued accusingly. If my words in any way affected her, she didn't let it show.

"I-I need your help," she stammered.

"My help?" I furrowed my eyebrows, bemused. Last time Kitty had asked for my 'help' I had been forced to squeeze my essence into—no, only thinking about it makes me feel sick. Then I paraded around London in the thing, risking my life in a dozen ways and coming so close to death that I could feel its breath.

"Yes, your help." And just like that she stepped out of her pentacle and walked to a dusty queen bed and picked up a newspaper that had been lying on it. I bent my legs, tensing for the spring. Then I realized who it was in the other pentacle. I couldn't devour Kitty, what had I been thinking? Kitty noticed. She gave me a pointed look, smirking slightly.

"Old habits die hard," I excused myself with a shrug.

I walked out of my own pentacle and followed her to the dusty old bed. She gave me the newspaper for me to read. I scanned through the page, barely moving my eyes, and looked up at her. " So? What's wrong with that?"

"Someone is trying to take over the government again. I need your help to track down the magician and its spirit." She looked indignant at my indifference.

"I'm sorry, Kitty," I said softly. "I need more time to recover from my last stay on Earth and I'm not willing to put my essence on the line for any human, not even you."

"Look at me. I followed you into the Other Place to gain your trust. Please—"

"This isn't about trust, Kitty, I just can't do it." A small part of me knew I was being unreasonable, but I just couldn't get back to word now. I had too much to think about. And now that I had a choice…

"But Ptolemy…" Ah, she was playing the Ptolemy card again. I wouldn't let it get to me. As much as I liked the girl and as similar as she was to Ptolemy, he would have given me a choice in matters like this.

"Ptolemy wasn't a man of politics. He wouldn't have asked this of me either."

"But this isn't about politics! There is more at stake than the council which I am not a part of," she said pointedly. "This could also affect commoners and oh-so-noble djinn such as yourself!"

"Fine. Assuming that I did decide to help you—which I am not saying I am—what would you be asking me to do?"

A dazzling smile lit her face. "I would ask you to patrol the streets of London, looking for unusual activity such as caused by the immensely powerful entity mentioned in the paper." She was getting good at this legal-talk thing. Kitty was becoming more and more like the manipulative magicians in the government.

"Oh goodie. Patrol duty," I said in a monotone. "Fine," I resigned. "I'll do it on one condition. I want to be released for ever the second this spirit is found and the conspiracy is stopped."

Doubt assaulted her face, even though she tried to hide it. "Very well," she said at last.

"Dandy," I shot out of the window and into the sun, taking the shape of a stoic pigeon as I did so.