Guess who's back? And guess who can go onto FanFiction? That's right! Me! Yay!

I'm just beginning to realize I'm overactive….

Chapter 28

Ptolemy

Due to Iris' intentions, Ptolemy was well fed before Alfred woke. The two of them—Iris and Ptolemy—had a long debate about the political state of the government. Ptolemy had proved that the current condition of London wasn't good. He had proven to her that the commoners weren't living life to their fullest—the magicians were living it for them. He had even gotten her to think that the war in America wasn't as good and sweet as it sounded. He reminded her of the bloodshed, the lives sacrificed. And to what affect? Iris was forced to admit that she didn't even know. The conversation ended short when Alfred entered the room.

"Well, Nathaniel," Iris started after Alfred retired to his study. "it's just the two of us."

"Please, call me Ptolemy—If you don't mind—I prefer it." The name Nathaniel brought a sick feeling over him. It made him feel angry; disappointed in magicians. He remembered someone by the name of Nathaniel vaguely from another place. It was so perfect there…That was it! Ptolemy remembered seeing Nathaniel in the Afterlife! They hadn't gotten along too well. And all because Nathaniel hadn't treated Bartimaeus with as much respect as he could have. The two of them almost got into a fight at one point.

But minute by minute, hour by hour, Ptolemy's memories of this place were slowly fading away. Ptolemy didn't understand why, but he knew one thing; something was wrong. He was forgetting about the Afterlife, and remembering his actual life in more and more detail. He was beginning to remember the smell of his own blood after he coughed it up; he was remembering more and more details of the day he died. Rekhyt's roar of sorrow and regret when he started fading away, returning to the Other Place…

Everything was coming back to him, and everything was slipping away.

Iris broke through his thoughts. "Ptolemy? I like that. Sounds more Egypt-oriented. Alright then. Ptolemy it is."

Ptolemy snapped back into reality. "Thank you. It's much appreciated."

"So," Iris started as she sat down at the table. "You think our government is unequal?" She was referring to their earlier conversation.

Ptolemy nodded and sat down across from Iris. "Yes, I do. It's not fair that the magicians rule everything. People such as yourself have no real life—the magicians life it for you. And besides, do you realize how many people are dying in America? Do you even know why your troops are over there in the first place?"

"I have to admit that I don't." Iris caved.

"Exactly. You commoners should have a representative in your 'Parliament'. Your people have basically no say in anything that goes on outside your homes. And also, who runs your major businesses? Magicians. Commoners like you can't even have a good paying job. It's completely unfair."

"So then, what's your government like?"

Ptolemy again hesitated. Could he trust Iris with information like this? According to their previous conversation, he could. But would it be wise? Iris reminded her so much of Kathleen, though. He felt he could trust Iris with his life. "My government is something the opposite of yours. Magic is frowned upon. I knew some people that were executed because they were found out." He was referring to himself there, but that little point wasn't exactly important at the moment. "Magicians were considered evil by the commoners." He decided to stop there.

"Is everything well there; being run by commoners and everything?"

"Same way your government does. Only, we tend to stay out of wars."

Iris smiled and said something, but Ptolemy wasn't listening. He had felt an odd sensation of an alien presence in the room. He looked around, saw nothing. He sensed a djinni in the room of some power. But he couldn't sense exactly where it was.

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A/n

Yay, I am now officially able to get on Fanfiction whenever I want on my laptop! Which means updates everyday! I'm so happy now! Next chapter is Farrar, and I don't really know why, but I don't read what I write after I've written it…so…yeah…