Um…*ducks behind pillar* I am soooo sorry for not updating! School started, so I barely got the chance to go online, let alone make a chapter! Okay, and I suffered from writer's block too…but still! Gah, I'm making this up to you guys by making this chapter longer-hope you do enjoy it! And thanks for Story Alerting this and such, and to the reviews-if you like it, heck just review! I bet you want to read this now…so yeah. *stops rant* Oh, and if you want to see me unrelated work that's not fanfiction-go to Inkpop and search for Experiment Number 2228. Yep, that's me! XD

Chapter Six

Sadie Kane

What? It's not my bloody fault that the plane happened to crash, so stop thinking that I had something to do with it. Okay, maybe a teensy bit. But still!

So when the plane was about to crash, the only thought that was ringing in my head? I'm never going to turn thirteen, I thought miserably, while gripping onto the arm seat for balance and for something to keep myself from hurling my head towards the seat in front of me, the occupants screaming at the top of their lungs. The sound almost made me barf, they sounded like an orchestra of the dead. And the mention of the word 'dead', a certain guy in a leather jacket and swoon-worthy face popped in my head. I'm never going to see Anubis again. Oh yeah, that's right-I'll see him when I die. That's quite reassuring. Maybe that was two thoughts. But who's counting?

Sheer terror crawled up my spine. Panic swirled around my mind, clouding the actual sane thoughts I had left. Dimly, I wondered if it would be good to stand up, but then realized that the shaking and vibrations of the floor would send me on the ground. And the worse thing was, I couldn't use magic-my sources weren't as big as the time I was hosting Isis, I doubted that she would help me now, and even if I had the proper amount of energy to conjure another Ha-Di spell [yes Carter, using destruction spells in a time of disaster is always a good idea], the mortals would think I was a freak and go into full-on-chaos mode. My instincts told me that wasn't a good thing.

My eyes swerved to Carter. His brown eyes shone with fear and surprise at the same time, hair standing on the edge like it was attached to static. "We're going to die die die!" He yelled, breath coming out in hurried strokes.

Yeah, he wasn't much help here. Guess that you would do the same thing if say; your life was at risk. Either that or it was just my brother being a complete idiot again.

Besides, even if he was calm, Carter was never the best at using magic-I was usually the one who thought of enchantments and words while he distracted the monsters with weapons. So basically, I was stuck in a very complex puzzle. And if I didn't win this time, I was going to be in a worse situation than a man in Vegas at a poker match-on the losing side.

I quickly scanned the place. If I tried to snap Carter out of his funk, we'd probably die before I got the chance to come up with a plan with him. On the other hand, with my head not exactly coming up with a plan at the moment, we'd still die. Which choice would I take?

"Duh. To survive," I muttered.

"Passengers!" The voice of the female stewardess once more rang from the speakers, her voice shaking slightly. "Please do not panic, this will only cause more distraction for the pilot. We are currently trying to find a solution, so please attach the oxygen masks to your mouth and remember to take care of yourself before attaching the mask to any children or anyone incapable of doing such actions. Sit down and take deep breaths, and relax yourselves. Thank you for your-"

"HOLY CHRIST!" another voice bellowed, from the intercom but certainly not the stewardess earlier. "We're all out of fuel!"

"!" Then, all you could hear was the static of the intercom and the breaths that people took as the speaker hung up.

Frightened murmurs ran down the seats, people exchanging wary looks and screams with one another. While my brother was still panicking, I was trying to figure out how to put on an oxygen mask. Hey, nobody pays attention to the people demonstrating those things anymore-since there's a ninety-eight percent chance that you'll get out of there, safe and unharmed-unless of course, you're scarred from the unfortunate incident where the food on the plane is horrid. But so far, I don't think anybody has died from it. I guess.

As I puzzled over the contraption, I barely noticed Carter tapping my shoulder. "Sadie," he said loudly.

"What?" I snapped, giving him a frosty look. "Are you done panicking now?"

Carter snorted. "I wasn't panicking in the first place."

"This is coming from the dude who said we're going to die," I said icily. "Want a video to prove it?"

"No thanks," Carter stammered quickly. "What I meant is that this plane is weird. Something or someone is causing all of this. Don't you think so?"

"I don't believe mentally impaired citizens most of the time, so pardon me if I say that's a horrid idea." I tried to chose the right words, something which would not drive him over the edge of a fifty story cliff, and you all know how hard that it for me. As I couldn't find anything else to say, I decided to tell him, "You should put on your mask. We're probably going to crash land."

Then, Carter said the words that would change our lives-for the greater good, I still didn't know.

"We can shift into birds."

My jaw dropped open wide. "You-you're kidding me right?" I asked weakly, memories of my previous experiences of shape-shifting into a bird rushing quickly into my head like a cascade of a river current. Well…let's just say that I suck at it. Badly. There's no need to tarnish my already rusty reputation.

Carter sighed. "Look, I know that you're the worst shifter in the world. But unless you want to meet your death in approximately ten minutes, that's the only choice we have."

"Stop thinking so negative, you're making things worse," I muttered darkly. I swore to myself I was never going to do that again-and I was keeping to that promise.

"Sadie-" he began.

"Carter," I mimickered his tone. "Why don't we just do something to help this situation?"

"Kids these days," the man next to Carter said out loud, shaking his head.

Carter and I looked at each other for a moment. Then we let out slow laughs. Slow, but at least it was a start. I'm sure that my laugh sounded slightly shrill, and Carter's was slightly forced.

"So…" I hesitated. "It seems like a good plan…but only someone insane would do it."

Carter gave a small smile, with brown sparks lighting up in his eyes. "Which is probably the best way to describe you."

I laughed again. But then seconds later, I felt a hand tap my shoulder.

"Excuse me." A boy next to me said, holding onto my seat for support. His olive skin and dark hair made him stand out from the crowd, and looked around thirteen or so…not to mention he was wearing genuine Italian leather combat boots. Which added to the cuteness factor. Wait, am I seriously crushing on another guy?

"What?" I asked, blue eyes meeting black. His face seemed devoid of expression, in fact it was almost…motionless. That decreased the cuteness factor.

Carter stiffened. "Sadie…" He warned.

"I couldn't help overhearing that you were deciding to change into birds," the boy said, stuffing his hands into his jeans.

"Must have sharp hearing for a kid your age," Carter remarked shrewdly.

He gave a low chuckle. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Now, are you a demigod? Or one of the big three? 'Cause it can't only be me who's causing the whole thing."

"Demigod? Big Three?" I echoed his words, a hell lot more confused than I was thirty seconds ago. "Wait, you caused the entire thing?"

"Keep quiet," the boy said anxiously, glancing from side to side. "I don't want them to know we're here-"

"Who are you talking about?" Carter asked. "And who the heck are you?

"The Big Three. You know, Hades, Zeus and Poseidon," the boy explained, a bewildered expression crossing temporarily in his pale features. "I'm Nico di Angelo. Son of Hades, and I don't know exactly what might be chasing us."

Just great. We had another loony dude here.

"Demigod…as in, other mythologies?" He scrunched up his eyebrows. "You mean…Greek and Roman mythology?"

"I don't think there's Roman, but yeah, Greek," Nico nodded. "I think you may be the son or daughter of Aphrodite or Hecate, since they're the only two who can shift into doves or use magic. Are you two dating or something?"

"What? Heck no!" I exclaimed, shaking my head furiously. God, why did everyone think that? Just because we were different colors… "We're siblings you stupid prat!"

"Sadie," Carter cautioned. He turned to Nico. "Sorry about that. She gets…worked up easily."

Nico shrugged. "I get that too. Reminds me of my step mom."

"Okay, now that we're all settled down," I said firmly, "do you have any escape plan perhaps?"

"…wing it?"

I gave my best death glare at Nico. "Then why did you come here in the first place?"

"Because I was thinking about saving the plane." Nico's dark eyes fell on the two of us. "And I think I need your help."

"Kids these days," the man muttered angrily. "Thinking that they're sons and daughters of death."

Nico said something that was so low I could barely hear it. "That's an appropriate term."

I couldn't help it. My mouth let out a snicker. He kind of reminded me of Anubis…with their combat boots, tanned face and personality…and the good thing was-he my age.

Now why did I just think that?

"About the Greek thing," Carter began, ruining my train of thoughts. "I think we'll have to explain this to you. You see, we're not exactly Greek-"

Before Carter could continue, an announcement blared from the speakers. "Attention, this is a friendly reminder from American Airlines! We have decided to do an emergency landing. So please unlatch your oxygen mask and calmly head towards the nearest emergency exit. For the closest path to your seat or instructions or how to prepare your life vest, please refer to the manual across your seat for guidance. Thank you for your continued generosity and cooperation in-"

"HOLY CHRIST-"

"John!"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"I guess that's no need for that," I noted.

"That was already obvious in the first place," Carter said.

"So what were you going to say?" Nico asked.

"Um…" Carter looked slightly nervous. "We're not exactly Greek. See, it's kind of different in our case…"

As my brother started to prepare for his usual and boring explanations, I cut in to save his already ruined reputation. "We're Egyptian, blood of the pharos. Yeah, that's basically it. So you're Greek? Never heard of that before."

"You're taking this lightly," Nico remarked.

"What, you want me to freak out?" I teased.

"Wait-there's really Greek…gods?" Carter's expression was grim, but also as if his worse suspicions were confirmed.

"Yes," Nico confirmed. "But how did you know that?"

"See, it's kind of a long story-"

And then the doors of the plane opened. The plane made a full stop, although we were still hovering above the ground. Nico's face looked queasy. "Not this again," he complained.

"What?" I wondered out loud.

"This always happens when I fly-or try to fly," he moaned, clutching my arm seat tighter. "Zeus doesn't exactly like me to fly, because my dad kinda hates him. So yeah…"

"Are you going to barf on my or something?" I asked warily. I did not want a repeat of the Cara incident.

"Nope, I can usually control it…"

"Usually?"

"Guys," Carter heaved a sigh.

"Sorry," we both said in perfect synchronization.

Blushing slightly, I handed my backpack to Carter. "Hey, could you transport this into the Duat?" All my belongings were inside, including my passport and cash. So if he lost it, I was going to kill him.

"Sure," Carter nodded. "But why are you asking me?"

"Because you did nothing the past few hours except drool?" I said.

Carter winced, an unhappy and an embarrassed expression on his face. "Not funny." But he still got it, murmured a few words, and within a blink of an eye the backpack was gone.

"Did you use shadow traveling?" Nico stared at the empty spot where the backpack had been in disbelief.

"Nah, just transported it into the Duat," I said. "Why, that's the weirdest thing you've ever seen?"

"I've done worse." Nico nodded towards the nearest exit. "Unless you have a death wish for my father-"

"Wait, you're dad's Osiris?" I blurted out. Not good. If his dad was my father…this would complicate matters slightly. And then again, why was I crushing on another death dude?

Nico gave me a strange look. "No, Hades."

"Oh." My cheeks were probably turning red by now. If Liz and Emma were here…I'd be in a worse situation. And they'd tease me nonstop, and probably flirt in the process with him. Oh, bloody, bloody-

After Carter transported his backpack and when we had figured out how to use the life vests, the three of us headed towards the exit. We got the lifeboats from the still smiling flight attendant, and when the slide-ramp thing was there, Carter and Nico looked at me. "You first," they both said in unison.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Men are rubbish," I said out loud, not really caring if they heard it.

"So are women," I heard Carter say to Nico. They laughed.

I put the inflatable lifeboat beside me. I didn't really need it though; I could probably create a boat thanks to my powers in a second. I closed my eyes, and slid down from the ramp, to the blue colored waves that looked like they were waving their arms in the air, inviting me to come and take a swim. I wish.

Just when I was about to reach the sea, I pulled the string of the lifeboat. It quickly inflated open, and I threw it into the sea just as I landed into the water with a splash. The icy cold was the first thing that registered in my brain. The sinking sensation was the second.

I kicked my legs up, struggling for air. In a split second, I reached the surface, gasping and gulping the fresh air. I thanked the Lady Luck for my grandparents forcing me to go to swimming lessons two summers ago-although I pretty much screamed and did badly in every session, the skills I had gained had probably helped me with the whole saving my life issue.

Feeling water stain my ribs, I went on my lifeboat, nearly slipping thanks to the mixture of rubber and water. On the second try I got up, trying to regain my senses back. Where were Carter and the Nico dude?

As if answering my thoughts, another splash echoed from a distance. I quickly swerved my head back, blonde hair covering my eyes temporarily and the movement almost knocking me back into the waters. But it wasn't one of the two though-it was a girl, with brown hair looking pissed. "This wasn't in the ticket!" she yelled. "I demand a refund!"

Yeah, that probably wasn't one of them.

I sighed. Deciding to wait a little longer, I looked around the small lifeboat to check for any supplies. I found a miniature first aid kit that contained bandages, a book of survival tips and some matches; oars; an ad to a pizza delivery in Orlando and another one which advertised a shoe store in New York. I stuffed the ads into the first aid kid, and brought out the oars.

I experimentally padded around with the oars. The boat kept on spinning around, not going in the directions I wanted it to. Cursing, I tried again. No luck.

A couple of minutes and futile attempts, I finally could manage the basics-but my hands were aching with pain at holding such weight for some time. I ignored the sounds, and scanned the small crowd of lifeboats once more. There was no fourteen year old boy, nor a cute looking guy with dark hair.

"People, head this way!" The flight attendant gestured with her hand towards the left. "Please, follow!"

Amidst the grumbles and whines, I was starting to panic slightly. What would I do now? If I lost them, I would receive a bunch of scolding from my dead mum and the king of the dead (or maybe another king of the dead), my dad. Lovely.

And that's when I heard a loud bang in the distance.

I nearly jumped back, almost hitting the waves. Surprisingly, all the other people didn't react-it was probably the usual glamour that mortals saw. Or maybe the thought it was just a sound of a kid jumping down with a cannonball. I didn't know much, but what I knew was when mortals don't hear stuff that you hear-bad sign. As in monster sized bad.

Just in case though, I muttered, "L'mun." If I had successfully did the spell-which I hope so-the theory was that I'd be invisible. Maybe reading one of the scrolls Cleo asked me to read was a good thing after all. For a good measure I brought out my wand that was in my pockets.

Making sure I didn't bump into anyone, I slowly maneuvered my way towards the place, hoping that the noise held a friendly help, which hopefully had cookies. Cookies and milk would be so good now…

[Carter just called me a baby. I punched his nose, sorry for the wait.]

Anyways, a voice stopped me cold. "We meet again, di Angelo," a voice hissed. "And I see you've made another friend aside from the Chase girl and the Jackson boy. Honestly, when are you going to find some friends your age, instead of playing with toy skeletons…which I could easily defeat?"

"Probably because they have bigger brains that you do," Nick retorted, an edge in his voice. "What, so you played with the clouds?"

Right in front of me was Nico and Carter, both in their own lifeboats, looking tense and wary. In front of them was the same brown haired girl who had complained about the airplane ticket. In her hands was a miniature spinning vortex of air, the other a gold looking sword that suspiciously resembled lightning. Carter's khopesh was out, meaning this wasn't a friendly friend with cookies.

"Actually, the stars," the girl admitted. "But that's not that point. The point is…I have his-" she nodded to Carter- "-sister's lives in his hands. So if he does what I say…maybe I'll let you son of Hades die a quick death."

"Who said I was dying in the first place?" Nico snarled.

"Wait, you have my sister?" Carter looked like as if someone had punched him in the face. "Where?"

The girl smiled wickedly. "Oh, somewhere," she said airily.

No way was I going to let this go on. Narrowing my blue eyes, I switched of the spell with the flick of my wand. "Hullo?" I called, making sure that I sounded more British than usual. "Anyone there?"

As Carter and Nico turned to face me, the girl's face turned pale. "I-I…" she stammered. "She's a…how do you say it in Egyptian? Shabti, yes-"

I gave a smirk. "Could a shabti do this?" I pointed my fingers at the girl. "Ha-di!" I exclaimed, just when Carter yelled, "Sadie, I don't think that's-"

Too late. The sea rippled. Then, a wall of water was formed, started to float towards the girl like a huge surfing wave. Unfortunately, it was also headed towards Carter and Nico. Bad move.

Before I could react, a flash of darkness spread through the sea. I closed my eyes on pure instinct, somehow knowing that if I opened my eyes something bad would happen. Even with my eyes closed I could make out shades of grey and black. Once the silent hum stopped, I opened one blue eye. I didn't like what I saw.

Nico was still there, looking weary and tired. And the girl and Carter were nowhere in sight.

I turned to Nico angrily, trying to float closer towards him, prepared to punch. "Where the HELL is my brother!" I demanded, furious to the bone.

"I don't know!" Nico replied, with the same amount of vehemence…and weirdly, sadness. "He just…disappeared-"

"And I supposed our dear friend went with her." I rubbed my hands together, prepared to swing a punch.

"No, Sadie-" Nico pleaded. "Just listen-"

Then a dark body appeared in the waters.

Needless to say? I screamed. For the first time in the short life of Sadie Kane.

Because what would your reaction be if you saw, say, your brother's body in the waters?

Surprisingly, Nico didn't react that much. "That's it?" he said out loud. He motioned towards me. "I think he's still alive, but I need some help getting him out of there…"

"Just ask," I grumbled.

Together, we lifted Carter's body into his lifeboat. His breath was slow and paced, but at least he was breathing. I didn't dare do another spell, partly because the spell earlier had drained myself and I sucked at healing magic-I couldn't even heal an ant. Water clung to his clothes tightly, like a mother hugging her child.

I grabbed one part of his boat, trying to steer his and mine at the same time. "I think we have to go now," I said through gritted teeth.

"Wait, what?" Nico asked.

"How can I trust you if you nearly killed my brother?" I asked, really pissed.

"You're the one who nearly killed all of us!" Nico protested.

"And that's supposed to make up for all of that?" I seethed. "Di Angelo, you are so going down-"

"Annabeth!"

I facepalmed. "Who the heck is that? Your girlfriend?"

He glared at me. "A friend," he said, voice clipped. "Unless you want your brother's life to be saved, they're your only hope."

"So I guess we have no choice, ay?"

And that's how my life basically blasted to pieces.