-Walt Stone-
We entered the Hall of Judgment to see it practically empty with the exception of Julius Kane and Anubis. "Well, what brings the two of you here?" Julius started with a large grin.
"Hey, we need to talk to a ghost," Sadie started.
Julius' expression hardened. "Uh, I'm not letting another one wander about because it tricked you like Setne-" He started.
"No, just talk," I explained. "Do you know anyone by the name of Jazzy Hippo?"
His expression softened and he snapped his fingers, "Hey, Jazzy Hippo, you have visitors!" He announced.
A few seconds and Sadie was about to sound dumb when a female ghost showed up before us. "I hate it when you use that nickname, Julius," she scorned before grinning towards us. "You must be Sadie Kane, your mother's told me so much about you!"
"Uh, hi," Sadie took her in for a second. "You really let people call you that?"
The ghost rolled her eyes, "It's awful, I know. But the Kane brothers are not that creative when it comes towards names. But that's okay, Ruby and I gave them awful names too."
"Like Morning Dew?" I continued.
If a ghost could blush, she most certainly did. "Trust me, it was a fitting name. I assume he sent you two. When does he plan on visiting himself?"
"Uh, actually we have a letter he wrote to you," Sadie gave her the note.
She read through it, mixed emotions when she took a second to skim it over again. "It sounds like he intended to give me this himself," she started. "Where did you find this?"
Sadie and I exchanged looks, which Sadie sighed and faced 'Jazzy Hippo'. "We are in another crisis. So far, Amos and Carter are missing."
"What?" Julius alarmed. "How? They're the Pharaoh and Chief Lector; eyes are on them nearly twenty-four seven-"
"Not sure," Sadie continued. "Anyways, we believe Amos came upon something that this Gaia Goddess is trying to keep hidden. We may have come upon a trail of crumbs, in other words. That's why we're here; maybe you can help us figure it out."
The ghost looked absolutely terrified towards Sadie's words. "Um, may I ask you for your real name? Just so we're not calling you that awful nickname," I hesitated.
She sighed and faced me. "Caroline Smith, former healer of the Twenty-first Nome," she introduced.
Sadie's eyes lit up suddenly, "Wait, I've heard your name before!"
"Not surprised," Julius started. "Amos was a complete puppy around her, and I bet he still will be."
"Were you two dating?" Sadie asked.
Caroline blushed again, "We didn't have the chance, but he planned to ask. That's enough for me, even this note. Though I feel he may be thinking of me too much if it's causing so much distress." She sighed. "Anyways, I suppose I better get to answering those questions."
"Cleopatra told me herself the reason behind her flooding Alexandria. Moreover, you can tell Amos that it wasn't a suicide mission. It was her stopping a threat of some sort from destroying Egypt. And from Amos' list of questions, it sounds like he thinks it was Gaia."
"Wait, you got to talk to Cleopatra?" Sadie asked.
Caroline grinned. "Yes, and what a grand honor it is," she continued. "Especially with her being my ancestor, I was completely obsessed with her that everyone practically turned to me when it came to doomsday facts from that period. Which explains why Amos is asking me, of course. Next question, do I think the heroic Sadie Kane can survive it? That's a yes."
"Sorry, can you specify 'it'?" I continued.
"Honestly, I am not certain what it will do," Caroline explained. "Especially if it's against a Greek Goddess."
"That's helpful," Sadie muttered under her breath.
"But I know you will survive, Sadie, because even if it is a mess you have an entire Nome to protect you and care for you," she continued anyways.
"Walt," Anubis finally spoke up, "call upon me when it's dire, I will be sure to drop everything and help."
I nodded in response. "Uh, I know this is kind of weird," Sadie hesitated to start, "what do the nicknames mean?"
Caroline grinned now, "Morning Dew is what Ruby and I called Amos, Julius didn't really get into that kind of thing except when it came to mine. Anyways, morning dew is what you find at dawn, condensation falling from the air thanks to humidity. To us, it meant he signified hope. He may have been the bookworm and not at all as strong as his older brother, but he always had something up his sleeve that saved someone somehow, even if it meant him risking his own life to get it to happen. When it seemed nearly helpless, he was the one we turned to."
"Ruby's nickname was Wildflower, just because of her rebelling against her parents and being a magician despite what they thought. Otherwise, Ruby was usually a caring person, someone you could turn to if you need a shoulder to lean on."
"Julius' is Headstrong Crocodile, because he is stubborn and we made a deal with Amos," she continued. "He wanted to name his shabti after his brother. We told him it was a bad idea because he would probably get into fights with it as well. Plus it deserves a better name than that. So he named him Philip of Macedonia, and we promised to call Julius a crocodile in return."
"Wait, you're kidding me right?" Julius' eyes widened. "What a little brat-"
"That's actually hilarious," Sadie grinned.
"Plus, Julius has a big mouth, so it's a perfect fit," Caroline added, earning more outrage from Julius. "You want to take your anger out by explaining why you and Amos call me 'Jazzy Hippo'?"
Julius calmed down and cleared his throat, "When we met her in Cairo, Amos kind of started to stalk her."
"Creepy," Sadie added.
"And then he couldn't stop talking about her. Kept talking about her relaxed attitude towards her studying, it made him jealous apparently. Well, that's not what I saw. She kept threatening me over the littlest things, like asking a question about a spell. He started relating her to jazz, which he will die if he never had it with how much he loves it, and I related her to a hippo. Therefore, we came to an agreement and called her the Jazzy Hippo. And to this day it fits; she's usually a relaxed woman unless you irritate her in the slightest."
"I only tolerate Amos using it," Caroline added with a big grin, "because it's filled with affection, rather than teasing."
"Despite how weird all of that is, you guys sounded pretty close," I pointed out.
Julius nodded, "The four of us were for the longest time the Twenty-first Nome. No one else wanted to join, rumors of Amos and I getting into trouble kept a good portion away. With time, it dwindled to just one until Amos took up guardianship," he explained dryly.
A minute of silence. "Thank you, Caroline, for the help you've freely given us," Sadie curtsied a little, earning a small laugh from the ghost.
"Oh please, it's an honor to meet you rather than me," she started. "Before you go, I want you to promise you'll survive this for your family. The Kanes have been torn apart too much as it is, don't cause more damage." Her eyes saddened, "And tell him he has always been the one to protect me."
