A/N: The beginning of this chapter is a bit graphic and bloody, but I'm sure its no big deal. I've written more bloody scenes in the past. Thank you so much for all those reviews on the last chapter! You readers are awesome! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: In this chapter, I own all characters except for Danny.

Chapter 14 Branding Your Cattle

Feeling like a fish suddenly caught by a fisherman, Theo was teleported to another area. As soon as he and his captor had feet planted in the new room, Theo was thrown across it as if he was a limp doll. The force of the throw was so strong, Theo couldn't control his landing. The demigod roughly landed on his back and flipped to a stop on his stomach.

"Who do you think I am?" Ra's haunting voice loudly echoed throughout the dark room. Theo looked up as every torch in the room blasted to life from Ra's power. The room crackled and hissed as the fire of the torches seemed to roar ablaze. The room was a big tomb, probably a great pharaoh's or even Khufu's. The ceiling was high and held up by tall, reinforcing pillars that ran down in two lines from a door on one side of the room to another on the other side.

Close to the ceiling was a small box opening that was 5 by 5 inches. It went straight through the pyramid, aimed for the sky. The Egyptians had built the pyramid so it was directly under a set of important star formations. The opening was for the pharaoh to pass through to become a star himself for when he died. Right now a small strip of sunlight shown through it. Theo's stomach sank is despair.

Theo spotted Ra walking toward him from where he had been standing in that one place of sunlight. Struggling to his feet, Theo didn't dare move his gaze off Ra. The god was frowning deeply, his eyes narrowed in anger. Theo could literally feel the power of that rage in the air around him. Fear overwhelmed the teen. He couldn't seem to get to his feet fast enough to get away from Ra. It was like his brain had just shut down.

Ra grabbed the front of Theo's toga, raised him up with one arm, and then kneed the boy in the stomach. Theo winced as the air was fiercely forced out of him. Ra didn't give the devastated teen time to regain a breath as he brutally pushed Theo foreword and into a wall about a yard away.

The back of Theo's head collided with the stone wall first. The harsh impact sent an explosion of kaleidoscope colors across his already blurred vision. Slumping to the floor, Theo desperately sucked in air. He didn't even get the chance to see Ra advance on him. The god placed a hand on Theo's forehead and relentlessly poured his power into the boy.

Searing hot pain enveloped every one of Theo's limbs. The demigod let out a painful cry as he endured the agony. When Ra took his hand away, Theo felt like all his energy had been zapped out of him, sucked dry from Ra's simple touch. All Theo could do was glower up at his enemy, silently hating the man's guts, waiting for the next installment of hurt.

"Do you think this is a game?" Ra growled down at the boy at his feet. The god loomed over the defenseless demigod, his height alone dominating over the situation. "Did you think you could just simply play me? Did you honestly believe you could escape by hiding out in a pyramid? Did you think I was that stupid? Answer me!"

Theo didn't answer. Striking out any way he could, the demigod kicked at one of Ra's legs. The boy was too slow, though. Ra saw the attack coming before Theo even had thought of it. The god brought his leg up that Theo was trying to kick and violently rammed his knee into Theo's chin. Theo squeezed his eyes shut, determined not to let the threatening tears to run free. Pitilessly, Ra ground the boy's head against the stone wall till it was stained red.

"You will find your place as a demigod either now or down the road, under my power," Ra hissed loathingly into Theo face. "You will crumble! It's better for you now to get that into your thick skull! You are breakable!"

Theo opened his eyes and glared cruelly back at Ra, his anger silent and deadly. Surprisingly fast, Theo whipped out his dagger, aiming to plunge it deep into the god's head that was inches away from his own. "No!" he screamed as Ra caught his wrist just as the blade's tip was at the god's temple. "No!" Theo screamed again, knowing the harsh punishment for his slowness.

"How long will it take for you to learn?" Ra asked Theo, holding back his anger and letting the words spill out in controlled calmness. For a moment he let the suspense hang precariously in the highlighted air between them. Theo's breaths were heavy with fear as his heart thumped wildly in his ears. He'd rather die than be under Ra.

Still holding onto Theo's wrist with the hand holding the dagger, Ra wrapped a hand around Theo's throat and hauled him off his feet. He slammed Theo's body against a pillar, the force making Theo regretfully drop his dagger. Ra tightened his grip on the throat, blocking the windpipe and suffocating the boy. Just before Theo was able to pass out, Ra released him and watched him fall to the floor.

Gasping and choking for air, Theo got to his hands and knees. Every intake of a breath hurt. He didn't have a chance at resistance as Ra kicked him onto his back and then sat on the teen's stomach. With one hand, Ra pinned Theo's wrists above his head. His right hand held the dagger. The cold blade glittered a brilliant orange in the light of the torches.

"Let's see," Ra pretended to think innocently, "How can I show the world, including yourself, that you belong to me?" Smiling evilly, Ra lightly traced the sharp blade across Theo's heaving chest. "Branding cattle has always been such an inventive idea. It keeps large farms peaceful. Each farmer knows exactly which cow belongs to whom. I've heard the process is very painful, though. So tell me if this hurts."

Ra let Theo's hands go and placed his finger's on the boy's chin to keep his head steady. Just as Theo was ready to punch Ra in the face, the god poured out some power through his fingertips, the pain quickly making the demigod submit. With the dagger, Ra slowly started to pierce the thin skin in Theo's left cat ear, carving out the symbol of his status.

Theo let out a painful cry as Ra finished his act by making the blade searing hot to go back and trace the open wounds to make them permanent. The process only took two minutes, but it felt like eternity to Theo. His left ear surged with pain, enough to bring the boy close to tears again.

When he was done, Ra whispered into the branded ear, "You are mine now."

Something in Theo snapped. Those words were like the last strike. The anger and pain that had been steadily boiling deep inside of him was finally released. A power of his own rolled out of Theo, hitting Ra's power full throttle. The god gave a shout of alarm as he was thrown backwards, seemingly pushed by an invisible force. Ra stared at Theo with confusion and wonder now. What had happened?

Struggling to his feet, Theo could feel something newly discovered in him. It was something deadly yet incredibly free feeling. Taking a few ragged breaths to stable himself, Theo touched his burning ear that Ra had branded. Hot, sticky blood dripped slowly to the stone floor. Theo traced the symbol with his fingers to see what it was.

It was the Eye of Ra.

"I'm nobody's," Theo said darkly to Ra once he realized what the symbol was. His whole body felt bruised and broken. It was hard to even stand at that moment, but Theo kept his ground. As Ra started to walk over to him, Theo let his power flow down his arms.

Just as Theo's threatening gaze hit Ra's, fire exploded from the demigod's hands. Ra stopped in his tracks, stunned at the sight. Theo grinned wickedly as he looked at his hands that were engulfed in flame. This was way better than that messily old spark he used to produce! He almost laughed when he wished Danny was there to see it. Where was Danny? Theo almost had forgotten about his friend. In times of panic, it was hard to keep track of things.

"Where were we?" Theo asked Ra. "You were saying I was yours, that's right! I'd have to say I disagree with that one. Because if I was yours, I wouldn't kick your sorry butt! For example…" Grinning, Theo pushed both his palms foreword. A blast of flame shot out of his hands, catching the god in the chest.

Ra stumbled backwards with his eyes going wide in shock. Since when did Theo have fire powers? The demigod hadn't gotten a trainer when he lived in Egypt. And no Greek sphinx had fire powers. The ability must have had been recently sparked to life from an over intake of power. Ra frowned when he realized it was his own power that had ignited Theo's fire ability. How ironic was that?

"So that is how you want to play, Theo?" Ra asked, flashing the kid his own evil grin. "You should know by now that messing with fire is a dangerous tactic. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll be pleading to be my slave." As he said this, both Ra's hands ignited into flames just like Theo's. The two adversaries grinned at each other. The torches in the room wavered and sparked as the two powers in the room strove for dominance.

Simultaneously, the two attacked. The blood from Theo's branded ear splattered across the stone floor as he advanced toward his opponent. He didn't know it till now, but this was his moment. This fight, this confrontation, was either going to make or break him. He did not know if he was ready for it or not.

Ra struck first with a swipe of his hand, fire blazing outward with the motion. Theo sprung easily over it, his feline genes successfully doing their job. His feet hit the ceiling, and he rebounded off the stone right above Ra's head. The god had to jump out of the way to avoid having Theo land on him. The moment Theo landed, Ra blasted a stream of fire right at the demigod.

Theo crossed his arms in front of his face just in time to block the attack. The force pushed him back a few feet, but no damage was done. As soon as the blast was finished, the two enemies ran at each other. Ra went to touch Theo, aiming to knock the teen out before the demigod did any damage. Theo brought his hands up to blast a torrent of fire into Ra's face. They ended up interlocking fingers and pushing off the other's hands.

The power of the two was slammed against each other as soon as they made contact. Theo could feel his power struggle against Ra's relentless pushing of his own power. Even though the powers were invisible to some eyes, someone could clearly feel the forces fighting for supremacy between these two. Theo grunted as he willed to pour more power out to push back against Ra's.

"You're going to have to do more than that, boy," Ra laughed into Theo's sweat laden face. His sick grin widening, Ra pushed Theo back a few steps. Theo felt like he was easily being over powered. Face grave, he hastily racked his brain for a solution.

"Have fun!" Theo shouted back at Ra before blasting out a great amount of unstable energy. Theo grinned as the powers exploded between them, sending both flying in opposite directions. Theo violently hit the far wall, back first. By his gasp of pain on impact, Ra clearly saw that Theo was hurt. Being a god, Ra was far from being too damaged by just hitting a wall. He was surprised that after so much beating that Theo was able to stand back up. But the demigod was persistent. Ra would give him that.

"You foolish demigod," Ra growled in anger. Theo greedily sucked in air as he listened to Ra from across the room. The teen knew he had little energy left to fight with. Every breath was a struggle, and his limbs ached. "All this is a pointless inconvenience to me," Ra said. "This will only make your punishment more painful."

Theo ran at Ra. The god frowned before rushing forward as well. They managed to take two hasty steps before something phased through the ground in the middle of the room. Danny screamed in alarm just as he threw up an energy field to protect himself from the oncoming adversaries. Wincing, Danny listened as both of them slammed face first into his shield.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Danny asked unknowingly as he looked back and forth between Theo and Ra.

Theo sat up with a moan, rubbing his crazily spinning head. He had lost a lot of blood. A blow to the head was like a sledge hammer to his brain. From where he sat on the floor, Theo looked dizzily up at Danny with confusion at first. "Danny!" he shouted in surprise once he realized who was standing there.

"That would be me," Danny answered. He was relieved to find Theo, but the state the demigod was in troubled Danny even more. It was obvious that the dude had gone through a brutal beating from Ra. The blood encrusted left ear was enough proof.

"Behind you!" Theo warned Danny suddenly.

Spinning around, Danny acted fast at creating another energy shield to protect himself. He smiled slightly when seeing a very infuriated Ra who had just shot a blast of something at him. The white energy still swirled around Ra's outstretched hand. Danny guessed it was what had shorted out his powers a few hours before. Thankfully the shield had blocked it all. The last thing Danny needed was to turn human again.

"What are you doing here?" Theo demanded. The demigod got to his feet, breathing heavily. Danny could see the pain Theo was going through, but he didn't help his friend to his feet because he was busy keeping the shield up. "I was about to take Ra down! You just screwed up everything!" Theo yelled the moment he was on his feet.

Danny raised an eyebrow, speechless for once in his life.

"Put this shield down so we can finish this battle," Theo commanded.

"I'm sorry," Danny growled back, "I didn't know you wanted to get yourself killed. Look at yourself, dude. You aren't going to last long. I leave you alone for five minutes and you almost get yourself killed. Jeez, and I thought I was the stupid one."

Theo opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn't deny the logic in Danny's words. The height of the battle had clouded his mind. He had been so ready to throw himself into a fight he knew he couldn't win. But now he just wanted to get out of there and rest. There were more important things to do than fight Ra at the moment. Ra was a god. He'd be around for the rest of Theo's life. They could pick this fight up in a couple of years.

"Let's get out of here," Theo sighed. He glanced over to the cut out in the wall that went to the outside. He smiled slyly when noticing that the patch of sunlight was gone on the floor. The sun outside had set enough to not be able to pass through the small opening. That meant Ra would be stuck in the pyramid till the next day.

Theo walked over to the edge of the green energy shield and said emotionlessly to the scowling Ra on the other side, "We'll finish this later." Ra only growled back.

"Okay, kitty cat, let's leave," Danny said with a smirk. "This place gives me the creeps, and Ra looks like he wants both our heads served on a silver platter. I'm not one to complain, but I don't think I'd like being headless."

"Call me kitty cat again and I'll turn you into a crisp!" Theo hissed, his raised fist bursting into a heated flame to match his tone.

Danny's eyes widened as he stared silently at Theo's flaming hand. The ghost boy grabbed Theo's wrist while saying, "We'll talk about this after we get out of Egypt. I'm scaring myself when I say that I miss Greece and its' own crazy gods and goddesses." He turned to Ra and waved goodbye while saying, "Hopefully I won't see ya later. Don't suffer from a heat stroke, man. Oh! And get a cat. They serve as much better pets than Theo, here."

With those final words of wisdom, Danny turned intangible and shot through the ceiling of the tomb before Ra could protest their escape with actions. Soon, the boys were soaring above the large pyramid which had become Ra's own trap. With a red dazzling sunset working its way on the horizon, Danny flew toward Greece at a steady pace.

Looking down at Theo, Danny smiled slightly when seeing the half sphinx glancing back at Egypt with a secret grin on his lips. Danny was relieved to see Theo in good mental condition, especially after his whole skirmish with Ra. Sure; the guy looked like a punching bag at the moment, but at least his spirit wasn't lost in the fight. Danny had to admit that the demigod was strong.

Leaving the other in their own thoughts, the boys traveled all night across the ocean in silence. They had to get to Greece before sunrise, which was hard for Danny to do because he was so worn out from his battles that day. Fatigue threatened a few times to take Danny down, but the promise of rest at the destination drove him along. Theo couldn't sleep either, because that meant he would take a head dive into the ocean. He had to keep awake to hold onto Danny's wrists. It was a very long night for the both of them.

Land appeared on the dark horizon before the sun came up. The second Danny dropped Theo to the sandy, deserted beach, the demigod was lights out. Turning back into his human form, Danny fell back toward the earth. Like Theo, he was out as soon as his cheek hit the soft sand.

-That Afternoon-

"Hello? Get up, you mortals! Don't make me pour water on your faces! Get up!"

Both Danny and Theo struggled out of the comforts of dream world. Moaning in pain of their aches, the boys lifted their heads up to see who was yelling annoyingly at them. Harsh rays of sunlight blasted into their groggy, sleep laden eyes as they opened them. They barely reacted when they saw Hermes standing over them with his hands crossed in front of him. They blinked silently up at him before resting their heads back on the sand.

Hermes raised an eyebrow in amusement and wonder. He bent down so he was closer to the boys. "Jeez, it looks like both of you guys have been through a lot," the god observed the obvious. As he said this, he tapped on their heads to force them to a more wakeful state.

It was then that he noticed the Eye of Ra sketched in blood and burns on Theo's ear. He grabbed the tired demigod's ear and looked at his closely with his eyes narrowing. Theo gasped in pain, quickly becoming awake. To prevent it from hurting anymore, Theo let Hermes handle his ear in wincing quietness.

"I didn't know Ra gave his banished demigods going away gifts," Hermes said to Theo coolly.

"I didn't mean to get us caught by Ra," Theo returned with the same tone as the god's. "We escaped, that's all that matters…right?"

The question hung precariously in the air. Danny stayed quiet as Hermes studied Theo's face, still holding onto his ear. A hard expression was on Hermes's sharp features as he pondered this. He could easily tell the Greek gods that Theo had been over to Egypt, which was illegal on a banished demigod's part. The scar Ra gave Theo was enough proof for anyone to know where the kid had been recently. But if the demigod had been forced into returning to his homeland, it could be okay. It depended on what the god thought.

"You guys look close to joining those in the Underworld," Hermes said softly, releasing Theo's ear. "I'll let this one slide." A relieved smile washed over Theo's face when hearing this. Hermes laughed before saying, "I haven't ever seen you smile before. Any other new things you brought from Egypt that I should know about?"

"Just a lot of scars and bruises," Danny answered with a chuckle. Groaning, he and Theo sat up. Danny's shoulders where that sphinx had dug her claws into him were burning and throbbing. Theo was suffering from a stinging ear and a blinding migraine from when his head had hit and been ground into that wall. Hermes frowned when seeing these bloody, painful wounds.

"I advise taking a day off from this quest of yours," Hermes suggested. He put a hand in between the boys and waved it over the sand. Bandages and ointment appeared in the spot his hand used to be. "As the god of medicine and health, I can't let you two go any farther with those wounds. Fix yourselves up before taking a swing at the next god or goddess."

"Oh, thanks," Danny said with some disbelief in his voice. Hermes was a strange god to him. Danny used to think of him as some conniving, scheming thief. But now Hermes was showing a different side of himself. He wasn't like Dionysus or Demeter, who was just out to destroy others' lives. Hermes was more complex than that.

Theo opened his mouth to say something, but Hermes got there first. He smirked as he said, "Let me guess, Theo, you want to know why I'm here. I'm not as oblivious as you think I am." Theo's only response was a frown, so Hermes continued.

The god stood back up and placed his hands behind his back, clearing his throat. Danny realized the guy always did that before giving them a message from the other gods. Hermes recited his message by saying, "The god Ares and goddess Aphrodite request their symbols right away. They say to meet them a few miles from here. Also, they have a surprise for Danny."

"Surprise for me?" Danny asked in puzzlement. "But I haven't ever met those two. How do they even know my name?"

"Do you know a Plasmius?" Hermes asked.

Danny's blood boiled at the name being mentioned. "That stupid fruit loop!" Danny growled in disgust. "What is he doing here? He needs a life!"

Hermes laughed at Danny's spiteful reaction. "I'd take that as a yes," he said. "Well, he left three of your friends in the care of Ares and Aphrodite. I know that was meant to be a surprise, but I never liked surprises. Plus, you two need all the information you guys can get. I guess I feel extra gracious today. Consider yourselves lucky."

"Wait! They have my friends?" Danny asked in alarm, but Hermes was already gone. The boy frowned when realizing Hermes had vanished like he always liked to do. He turned to Theo to see his friend's reaction. "What are you doing?" he asked when seeing Theo rubbing something on his ear.

"We need to be in better condition if we want to get your friends back," Theo answered, holding up the bowl of ointment for Danny to see. "I'm patching up this ear so the next god we see won't jump to conclusions. I'm gonna kill Ra for this. You need to patch up your own wounds. What happened, exactly?"

"I bumped into a sphinx," Danny said. He picked up his own ointment and started to rub in onto his scars. The stinging died down as he did so. "I guess I should have been more careful, huh?"

Theo shrugged. "Sphinxes have always been quick warriors. You were bound to get hurt from one," he said casually. Danny glanced up at him, surprised by the guy's words. Theo stared out at the tranquil waves lapping at their feet before looking over to Danny. "Um…thanks for saving me again. I'm…grateful to have you with me on this mission," Theo said hesitantly.

"Grateful now, huh?" Danny asked jokingly. "It took you awhile."

Theo smirked back. He grabbed a fistful of sand and threw it into Danny's smiling face. "Don't make me change my mind," Theo teased back. He laughed as Danny choked and wheezed on the sand.

A/N: The next chapter will finally bring in Sam and Tucker. I'm gonna miss having the fighting duo of Theo and Danny, but I'll get over it. Hope you guys liked the chapter. Thanks for reading and please review! I'll be back next Friday!