Disclaimer- Seriously? All right, I'll do it quick: IdontwnanythingexceptCharleneandMike
x-X-x
Disagreeing with a Cactus
The Stone family was boarding flight 295 to Dallas, Texas to see their cousins. Translation: Seventeen-year-old Michael Stone had been dying to go to his cousin's flat, especially since he hated London, so, of course he had to live there. This was the first time he had ever left England, so it was a big step in his life. Mike had only met his cousin, Charlene, on the one occasion that she, Aunt Zia, and Uncle Carter had come to London for Easter when Mike was ten. He had always looked up to his eighteen-year-old cousin, and they got along great.
When Mike, his father, Walt, and his mother, Sadie got on the plane, Mike knew it was going to be a short and interesting ride. He was half right. The ride did feel short to him, but it was very boring, flying coach. Mike was a little taller than normal, with Sadie's blue eyes and Walt's condition, and, as his parents put it, Walt's dashing good looks.
Mike could get arrogant at times, but it dissolved quickly. He had Sadie's sarcastic sense of humor mixed with Walt's seriousness. So he could start out as annoyingly funny (which was the best kind of funny in his opinion), then go to very serious in the span of half a second. Mike didn't really have any friends at school, so he texted Charlene a lot.
When the plane landed July 24, 2024, 14 hours later, Mike rushed out of his seat with his parents close behind him. 45 minutes later, they were exiting the airport and driving to the Kanes house. "Ready to see your cousin, Mike?" Walt asked. He nodded eagerly. Sadie opened the door and found Uncle Carter arguing with a little potted cactus.
x-X-x
"Brother, dear," Sadie said, trying to hold a laugh, "Are you and your cactus having a disagreement?" Uncle Carter jumped. He hadn't seen them come in. "Oh, uhhh... it's not..." he stuttered, sounding worried, "it's uhh...-"
"Uncle Carter, do you know where Charlene is?" Mike interrupted. "Upstairs in her bedroom, second door on the left," he responded, "but could you get Aunt Zia to c'mere first?"
"Sure," Mike said. He gave Uncle Carter a quick hug and went to find Aunt Zia. She was in the kitchen, pulling cookies out of the oven. "Mike!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug, "I didn't here you come in. Are your parents here?" Mike thought that was an odd question, seeing as he didn't get one ounce of freedom anywhere he went. "Nor did Uncle Carter," he chuckled, "Mum scared him out of his mind when we got here." Aunt Zia smiled, "Yeah, she can be terrifying at times."
"Oh," Mike said, remembering why he had came in here, "Uncle Carter needs you. You better get there quick; he's arguing with a cactus and they just might strangle each other." She frowned unexpectedly, "I better go see what's wrong. It's been happening a lot ever since..." Her voice trailed off. "Never mind. Would you like a cookie?"
"Sure," Mike said, taking a cookie, "Mmm! These are brilliant!"
"Thanks. I'd better go see what's wrong." Aunt Zia piled the cookies onto a plate and left the room, plate in hand.
Mike turned around eagerly and ran up the stairs to greet his best friend. When he arrived at her bedroom, it sunk in. He was really here, in America, at his cousin's flat, where he had always wanted to go.
Mike was thinking about all this as he knocked on the door. "Come in," came Charlene's voice from inside. He stepped in to an array of green and silver, quite unexpected. Mike had always thought of Charlene as a purple kind of person, but she wasn't. Well this is a day of discoveries, he thought, Aunt Zia makes cookies, Charlene's room looks like an Irish pub, and Uncle Carter argues with cactuses on a daily basis.
"You again," she said before pulling him into a hug. "Hi, so what do you w-" Mike started. "Charlene! Mike! Could you come down here?" We have something to tell you!" called Sadie from the sitting room. Mike scowled, "Bloody brilliant!" he said fiercely under his breath, "Can it wait?" he called back downstairs. "No, it's urgent!" She sounded worried. "Fine, be right down," Charlene called back, "Race ya, Mike. First one to the living room, or, in your case, sitting room." Mike nodded energetically. "On our marks, get set, GO!" he said. They both took of at once, speeding towards the sitting room. Mike was winning, but at the last second, Charlene came up behind him, passed him, a made it to the sitting room first. "Why are you two running?" Aunt Zia asked. "What you usually run for: a race," Charlene replied, "I won. Didn't I, Mike?"
"I live in London, I don't get a lot of running practice!" he protested. "So, waking up at 5 every morning and running around town doesn't qualify as 'a lot of running practice'? Just checking," laughed Walt. Mike scowled, "Fine. You won." Charlene smiled in triumph.
"So I called you all down here because we have a problem," the cactus said, "a big one." The kids jumped. "Horus?" Mike guessed. "How did you know?" Horus inquired, "I was going to put on a spectacular light show with fireworks, lasers, and music that spelled out my name. Now it's ruined!"
"None of the other gods, except maybe Bast would say: a big one," Mike said, "so work on your entrance lines." Charlene frowned, "Didn't you say, Lord Horus, that there was a big problem?"
"Lord Horus, I like that! Yes, Apophis is rising again." Judging from the slight shudder that passed over the adults, Horus had told them. "But how?" Charlene asked, "I thought Dad and Aunt Sadie destroyed his shadow and banished him to the deepest layers of the Duat? Don't give me a long answer; I don't want a history lesson from a cactus."
"Fine," the cactus said, "Apophis' minions went down carefully to where the other four aspects of his soul were, and began crafting him a new shadow. The minions were killed in the process, but it worked. Apophis is breaking through to your world as we speak."
"Here comes the worst part," Aunt Zia said just before burying herself in Uncle Carter's neck. "Now, I have been talking with some others-I won't tell you who they are, except that their enemies are rising again and have partnered with Apophis. You'll meet them soon enough," Horus started, "We have decided that Carter Kane, Sadie Stone, Charlene Kane, and Michael Stone shall be our team to go meet with the others and stop Apophis and the other forces of evil." Mike wasn't really fazed by that, and by the looks on Charlene's face, she wasn't either. "When are we going?" Mike asked. "Ten minutes," the cactus replied, "you'll be there by noon."
"Uh, where?" Charlene asked. "The Empire State Building, New York City, 600th floor. The mortal Empire State Building only has 102 floors, but using the card I'll give you, you can go to the 600th." Horus replied, "Anything else?"
"Uh, yeah," Mike said, "If we're leaving in a miraculous ten minutes, then how do we pack?"
"Good point. I'll take care of that," Horus said. A second later four suitcases appeared out of nowhere. "You'll be staying in Central Park, as I put a tent in there. Holy Horus, you have to go! For those of you who have not traveled Horus Hawklines you may experience nausea, headaches or vomiting. Please stay still while traveling with your eyes closed and have a nice flight!" A portal opened up in the middle of the room. Mike, Charlene, Sadie, and Uncle Carter were pulled inside the portal. The world turned upside down everything went black.
x-X-x
Just to clarify: Al (of course) knows about magic, Voldemort and Horcruxes, Emily knows about the gods and demigods, Emma. Knows about the bloody history off the Cahills and Vespers, and Charlene and Mike know about the Egyptian gods and magic. Sorry all the chapters are so short and I took so long to update. Starting chapter 6, chapters will get longer and be updated quicker as there's more action in chapters 6- end.
Thanks for reading!
RMaNC