IF YOU DON'T KNOW, I POSTED TWO CHAPTERS TODAY. CHECK CHAPTER FIFTEEN (THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS). IT'S CALLED "CARTER MAKES A CHOICE".

S
A
D
I
E

After hearing what he said, I almost dropped the phone. Thankfully, I didn't.

"HE'S WHAT!" I screamed into the phone. Oh, this cannot be happening. My brother cannot be dead!

"So, so sorry Sadie, but-" I didn't want to him anymore. Channeling all my rage, frustration, and hurt, I threw the phone on the remains of Cleopatra's Needle. The phone shattered on impact.

Nico gave me an incredulous look. "What's that about? You acted like Carter died or something."

I felt like punching him. He must've meant it sarcastically, but he actually guessed the truth. That sent me breaking down into tears. I've never actually thought about my brother dying, but now that he's dead, what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to tell Amos and Zia?

Zia put a hand on my shoulder. "What is wrong Sadie? Did something bad happen?"

I wanted to say "No". I wanted to say "Everything's fine". But the only thing that came out of my mouth was a whimper. "Uhuh."

I choked back some tears, but it was bloody useless. It was like my tear ducts broke or something. Nico gave Zia a look, and turned his head back to me. "C'mon, we'll take you back to your grandparents."

The hardest part was knocking. Gran answered the door with smiles on her face. "Oh, hello dears. Did you forget something?"

"Can we please come in, Mrs. Faust? Sadie's not feeling well." Nico answered for me. I was really thankful for that. I didn't know where to get the nerve to tell my grandparents that their grandson is…dead.

Nico guided me to the couch. I sat, bringing my feet up and pulling my knees to my head. Gran opened her mouth to speak, but closed it just as fast. Normally, Gran would go mad at me doing that, but I guess she saw the sorrow on my face, since she didn't say anything else.

Gramps entered the door, and he scowled when he saw Nico, and frowned when he saw me crying. "What did he do, break up with you?" he asked with a sneer.

I shook my head, still looking down. "Carter's dead." I whispered inaudibly. Sadly, Nico heard me, since he was sitting right next to me.

"You're kidding…right?"

I gulped. He was making this very hard for me to accept. I took a deep breath. "Carter's dead. Travis told me himself." I said with a twinge of mourning in my voice, loud enough for all of them to hear.

Zia and Gran gasped. Gramps just shrugged. "Well, I guess I better prepare the coffin." He said nonchalantly.

"Ronald!" Gran said, appalled. (A/N: I don't know the name of Sadie's grandfather so I just guessed. Harry Potter…Ronald Weasley, haha.)

"Meh, he probably joined a gang or something." Gramps waved his hand dismissively. I know he took care of me and all, but I am not going to let him tarnish my brother's name!

"You don't know anything!" I shouted at him. "You've treated him as less than dirt for nearly all his life. Did you even know that he saved the world just a few weeks ago from an evil sun-eating snake? Did you know that he is…was the Pharaoh of Egypt, and had both the House of Life and the Egyptian gods at his command? Did you even know him at all? No! You treated him like that just because he looked like dad!"

By the look on Gramps' face, you could tell that I'd hit a soft spot. Gran pursed her lips, but didn't say a word. Then, Gramps frowned.

"Look you," Gramps growled. "I've put up with your antics for nearly six years, and I am not going to any longer!" he gripped the armrest so hard that his knuckled turned wide. Gramps leaned over to me on his chair. "You want to know why I treat him like that? Do you, Sadie Kane?"

He said my name with a hint of loathing.

"Tell me." I said bravely.

Gramps smirked. "I'm sure you want to know. I did not treat him like that because he looked like his father. I treated him like that because his father favored him over you. I mean, his own daughter! Ruby, on the other hand, had loved both of you equally. When she died, I couldn't bear the thought of you staying with you father, so I hired the best solicitors that money can buy to get you to live with us. And I was right. Had we not taken you, your father would've dragged you on a roundtrip around the world, like he did with you brother."

"You don't know anything." I muttered.

"Look here, you ungrateful brat-"

"I would rather that you not call her a brat, Ronald." Said my father, stepping out of a portal behind Gramps. "She is rather sweet when she wants to be."

"Ju-Julius?" Gramps stuttered, shocked. "But you're dead!"

Dad walked over to me, and sat on my other side. "As Osiris, I am both alive and dead." He said.

Gran gulped. "But-the Rosetta Stone-"

"Is fixed." Dad finished. "It was a small miscalculation on my part, but everything turned out well." He turned to Gramps. "And Ronald, I did not favor Carter over Sadie. I merely taught him how to survive in this harsh, cruel mortal world, since he was African-American. Sadie would've been fine, since she inherited Ruby's looks."

"That doesn't mean that you can ignore her!" Gramps protested.

"Don't. You. Dare. Raise. Your. Voice. In. Front. Of. Me." Dad hissed through gritted teeth. Just to prove his point, he sent the spirits of the dead on Gran's flat.

The ghosts circled around my grandparents once, before going back to the ground. Afterwards, both of them were never the same again.

Dad turned to me. "Sadie, you should go to your brother. Take her to the Royal London Hospital, would you?" he asked Gran, who nodded in fear.

A swirling mass of darkness surrounded him. "I must go Sadie. The halls of Judgement cannot stay in order without my presence there to invoke it. But when you get to carter, convince him to live, will you?"

I didn't have time to ask what he meant by that, since he already disappeared.

Gran took a deep breath. "Let's go Sadie." She turned to Nico, Zia, and Gramps. "You three come too."

Diana greeted us as soon as Gran's car came into the parking lot.

"Sadie! I'm so sorry!" She rushed over and hugged me. It was a nice gesture and all, but it was very awkward.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Room 206. Travis and Connor are already there waiting for you." She answered.

I didn't wait for Nico. I completely ignored the receptionist, and ran straight to Carter's room. Inside, Travis and Connor were arm-wrestling, and Travis lost.

Carter was black and blue. A bandage was wrapped around his head, and a little bit of blood was seeping out. His left arm and right leg were in casts, and tubes were inserted to his nose, helping him breathe. His eyelids were half-open, which gave me the impression that he was looking straight at me.

I ran over, knocking Travis and Connor to the ground, and hugged him tightly. It was probably rude, not to mention against the hospital's rules, but I was never for following rules anyway. I let the tears fall.

Diana leaned against the open door. "What are you crying about? You're acting like he's dead already or something." Nico, Zia, Gramps, and Gran were huddled the other side of the bed.

Gran stroked Carter's hair. "Oh Carter…" she forced a smile. "I'm so sorry. You were a very brave boy…" she choked on what she was going to say next.

Zia was in hysterics, but she took it more gracefully than me. She cried, all right, but unlike me, she didn't throw herself all over him, shouting "CARTER! CARTER! NO!"

Diana groaned. "What's with you guys? He's not dead!"

"What?" I exclaimed, turning around.

"The doctor said he's in a coma, so he's not technically dead." She explained. "Not yet, anyway." I heard her mutter under her breath.

"But Travis told me-"

Diana squinted her eyes at Travis, who was hiding behind his brother. "You didn't. Did you?"

"Uh, maybe?"

"I told you to tell her that he was in the hospital, unconscious! Not DEAD! Ugh, I can't believe I let you tell her!" she tromped over, and gave Travis a god-sized slap upside the head.

"So…he's NOT dead?" I crossed my fingers. Please say yes…please say yes…

"No." Diana confirmed. "Blame these two idiots." She gestured to Travis and Connor. Connor was laughing his head off, while Travis was hiding behind Diana, looking at me for any signs of sympathy.

"I cannot believe-ugh! Why did I believe you!" I marched over, and kicked Travis where it hurts.

Percy, Annabeth, and Walt unexpectedly barged into the already cramped room. "We heard what happened. Have you seen Rachel?" Percy asked hysterically. He looked like he had just gone through a bread slicer,. His Camp Half-Blood shirt was ripped in the middle, and his jeans were tattered. Blood covered his arms.

Diana's gaze went to Percy, or more specifically, his arms, and she doubled over, like she was going to barf. "I can't take this." She wheezed, and ran out of the room.

"What's with her?" he asked.

"No idea." I answered.

Annabeth finally noticed my brother. "What happened to him?"

"A roof fell over." Travis answered, struggling to get up.

"A roof what?" Percy asked.

"Rachel's family's mansion was burning." Connor clarified. "We tried to save everyone who was inside, and Carter got buried under tons of rubble while trying to escape."

"Oh gods, how is he still alive?" Walt asked curiously.

I glared at him. "It sounds like you don't want him to live or something."

Out of the blue, Carter's heart monitor started going crazy. His body convulsed. A team of doctors, nurses, and other people I didn't recognize came running and ordered us out of the room. They closed the door behind them.

"I hope he's going to be alright." Diana said.

"He will be." I gave her a reassuring smile. Carter was a fighter. He will lie. He had to, or else I will go to the underworld personally and kick his arse for dying.

"Wait," Percy realized something. "Was Rachel with you?"

"No." We all shook our heads.

"Then where is she?"

I noticed Diana start fiddling with her thumbs. She had a guilty expression on her face. "Wait, you know where she is, don't you?"

Diana pursed her lips. "I…had a dream."

"Tell us." Annabeth ordered.

After she finished retelling her dream, Annabeth looked like she was going to explode. "You knew all along and you didn't tell us!"

"I'm sorry!" she defended herself. I was sure that it was going to take a lot more than sorrys to get Annabeth to calm down.

"Oh, so you're sorry for wasting our time coming here?" she accused.

"Leave her alone, Annabeth." Percy said.

Then the doctor came out of the room. He glanced at us once, and shook his head.

No…it couldn't be.

IS CARTER DEAD! YOU'LL FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER.