17.03.2015

Brooklyn House

Bast

I knew it won't be an average Monday when Amos Kane sat down next to me at the head of the table. He took off his hat and left it in Duat. "Good morning."

I smiled. "Good morning, Amos. Didn't know you'll be visiting again."

"I'm not. This time I'm staying for good."

Carter, who was sitting on my right, looked up but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to Ayanna next to him and the two started whispering to each other.

"That's lovely kitten!"

A weight dropped from my shoulders. With Amos around, the kids won't need me as chaperone. Now I could focus on returning to the Snake, and if I failed… If I failed, at least I wouldn't be leaving a hole behind.

"Did you bring us anything from Egypt?" Felix asked, an army of mini penguins marching across his plate.

Amos sipped his coffee. "Besides bad news? Sadie has had another ba trip last night." He explained when I raised an eyebrow. "She should be down any minute now."

Sadie was down ten minutes later. She was carrying her leather jacket over her elbow. I was about to ask where she is thinking of going when I noticed the scroll in her hand. She grabbed a pain au chocolate and a cup of tea from the buffet table and sat down.

Sadie glanced cautiously to her right, where Jaz's chair stood empty, like a cut down tree in the midst of a forest. She scanned the initiates. They were an assortment of all ages from all over the world. A handful were older than Carter and Sadie. The others were mostly between ten and fifteen. Felix was just nine. There was Julian from Boston, Alyssa from Carolina, Sean from Dublin, and Cleo from Rio de Janeiro.

"Morning," Sadie finally muttered. "Lovely day. Penguin in the fireplace, if anyone's interested."

"Sadie," Amos said gently, "tell everyone what you told me."

Unnatural quiet hung over the table when she finished her story. Even Philip of Macedonia stood still in his pool.

Finally Felix asked what was on everyone's mind: "So we're all going to die, then?"

"No." Amos sat forward. "Absolutely not. Children, I know I've just arrived. I've hardly met most of you, but I promise we'll do everything we can to keep you safe. This house is layered with magic protection. You have a major goddess on your side"-he gestured to me, very much not appreciated. I was trying my best to sink behind a can of Fancy Feast Tuna Supreme -"and the Kane family to protect you. Carter and Sadie are more powerful than you might realize, and I've battled Michel Desjardins before, if it comes to that."

Because the two most powerful magicians in the Per Ankh fighting is exactly what we need right now, with Chaos rising and all.

"If it comes to that?" Alyssa asked. "It sounds pretty certain they'll attack us."

Amos knitted his brow. "Perhaps, but it troubles me that Desjardins would agree to such a foolish move. Apophis is the real enemy, and Desjardins knows it. He should realize he needs all the help he can get. Unless…" He didn't finish the sentence. Whatever he was thinking, it apparently troubled him greatly. "At any rate, if Desjardins decides to come after us, he will plan carefully. He knows this mansion will not fall easily. He can't afford to be embarrassed by the Kane family again. He'll study the problem, consider his options, and gather his forces. It would take several days for him to prepare -time he should be using to stop Apophis."

Walt raised an index finger. The boy had the personal gravity of a black hole. Everyone turned to him, even Khufu.

"If Desjardins does attack us," Walt said, "he'll be well prepared, with magicians who are a lot more experienced than we are. Can he get through our defenses?"

Amos gazed at the sliding glass doors. "We must make sure it doesn't come to that. Desjardins knows what we're attempting, and that we only have five days-well, four days, now. According to Sadie's vision, Desjardins is aware of our plan and will try to prevent it out of some misguided belief that we are working for the forces of Chaos. But if we succeed, we'll have bargaining power to make Desjardins back off."

Cleo raised her hand. "Um… We don't know the plan. Four days to do what?"

Amos gestured at Carter, inviting him to explain. I braced myself to hear the words again as Carter sat up. "We're going to wake the god Ra."

The trainees glanced at one another.

"You mean the sun god," Felix said. "The old king of the gods."

Carter nodded. "You all know the story. Thousands of years ago, Ra got senile and retreated into the heavens, leaving Osiris in charge." I looked down at my food, trying not to cringe at the word senile. I remember the day. Nothing was right about it. "Then Osiris got overthrown by Set. Then Horus defeated Set and became pharaoh. Then-"

Sadie coughed. "Short version, please."

Carter gave me a cross look. "Sadie-"

"The point is," Ayanna chimed in before this conversation could turn into another Kane argument. I was surprised she wasn't already tired of playing mediator for the siblings. "Ra was the first and most powerful king of the gods. We believe he's still alive, just asleep somewhere deep in the Duat. If we can wake him-"

"But if he retired because he was senile," Walt said, "wouldn't that mean he's really, really senile now?"

All eyes turned to me. Sure, no pressure. "Ra is the god of the sun. In olden times, he aged as the day aged, then sailed through the Duat on his boat each night and was reborn with the sunrise each morning."

"But the sun isn't reborn," Sadie put in. "It's just the rotation of the earth-"

"Sadie," I warned and pointed at the scroll, which she'd so casually took to breakfast. "When Ra stopped making his nightly journey, the cycle was broken, and Ra faded into permanent twilight-at least, so we think. He meant to sleep forever. But if you could find him in the Duat-and that's a big if-it's possible he might be brought back and reborn with the right magic. The Book of Ra describes how this might be done. Ra's priests created the book in ancient times and kept it secret, dividing it into three parts, to be used only if the world was ending."

"If the world was ending?" Cleo asked. "You mean Apophis is really going to-to swallow the sun?"

Walt shook his head. "Is that possible? In your story about the Red Pyramid, you said Apophis was behind Set's plan to destroy North America. He was trying to cause so much chaos that he could break out of his prison."

"Apophis is the real problem," Sadie agreed. "We stopped him once, but his prison is weakening. If he manages to escape-"

"He will," Carter said. "In four days. Unless we stop him. And then he'll destroy civilization-everything humans have built since the dawn of Egypt."

Carter's words sent a chill over the balcony. I dig my nails into the dinning table, ignoring Sadie's questioning looks.

At the far end of the table, Felix counted on his fingers. "Why four days? What's so special about March twenty-first?"

"The spring equinox," I explained. "A powerful time for magic. The hours of day and night are exactly balanced, meaning the forces of Chaos and Ma'at can be easily tipped one way or the other. It's the perfect time to awaken Ra. In fact, it's our only chance until the fall equinox, six months from now. But we can't wait that long."

"Because unfortunately," Amos added, "the equinox is also the perfect time for Apophis to escape his prison and invade the mortal world. You can be sure he has minions working on that right now. According to our sources among the gods, Apophis will succeed, which is why we have to awaken Ra first."

'Sources'. I tried not to panic visibly as I though about how I'd be another nameless source soon. This conversation was never an easy pill to swallow in private. Now. Looking at all those scared kids, the last thing I wanted to do is leave them alone.

"We need Ra." Amos modulated his tone, making it calm and reassuring for the kids. He projected such composure, almost as if a cloud had been lifted from the table. "Ra was Apophis's archenemy. Ra is the Lord of Order, whereas Apophis is the Lord of Chaos. Since the beginning of time, these two forces have been in a perpetual battle to destroy one another. If Apophis returns, we have to make sure we have Ra on our side to counteract him. Then we stand a chance."

"A chance," Walt said. "Assuming we can find Ra and wake him, and the rest of the House of Life doesn't destroy us first."

Amos nodded. "But if we can awaken Ra, that would be a feat more difficult than any magician has ever accomplished. It would make Desjardins think twice. The Chief Lector, well, it would seem he's not thinking clearly, but he's no fool. He recognizes the danger of Apophis rising. We must convince him that we're on the same side, that the path of the gods is the only way to defeat Apophis. I would rather do this than fight him."

Cleo, poor thing, had gone as green as a frog. She'd come all the way from Brazil to Brooklyn to study the path of Thoth, god of knowledge, and we'd already pegged her as our future librarian. But when the dangers were real, and not just in the pages of book, well, she looked as bad as I felt.

"The-the scroll," she managed, "you said there are two other parts?"

Sadie took the scroll and began to unroll it before any of us could protest. I glanced towards the skyline, but everything seemed normal for now.

The scroll was unreadable. Hieroglyphs merged, smudged, crossed off. Some were almost invisible. The end of the papyrus was a jagged line, as if it had been ripped.

"I imagine the pieces graft together," Sadie said. "It will be readable only when all three sections are combined."

Khufu looked up from his Jell-O. "Agh!" He put three slimy grapes on the table.

"Exactly," I agreed. "As Khufu says, the three sections of the book represent the three aspects of Ra-morning, noon, and night. That scroll there is the spell of Khnum. You'll need to find the other two now."

"So the other two grapes," Sadie said, "I mean, scrolls, according to my vision last night, they won't be easy to find."

Amos nodded. "The first section was lost eons ago. The middle section is in the possession of the House of Life. It has been moved many times, and is always kept under tight security. Judging from your vision, I'd say the scroll is now in the hands of Vladimir Menshikov."

"The ice cream man. Who is he?"

Amos traced a protective hieroglyph on the table. "The third-most powerful magician in the world. He's also one of Desjardins' strongest supporters. He runs the Eighteenth Nome, in Russia."

"Vlad the Inhaler." I hissed. "He's got an evil reputation."

"What happened to his face?"

I was about to answer when Amos cut me off.

"Just realize that he's quite dangerous. Vlad's main talent is silencing rogue magicians."

"You mean he's an assassin?" Sadie asked. "Wonderful. And Desjardins just gave him permission to hunt Carter and me if we leave Brooklyn."

"Which you'll have to do," I said, "if you want to seek the other sections of the Book of Ra. You have only four days."

"Yes, you may have mentioned that. You'll be coming with us, won't you?"

I looked down at my Fancy Feast.

"Sadie," I struggled for the perfect way to explain it to her without causing upset and failed. "Carter and I were talking and, someone has to check on Apophis's prison. We have to know what's going on, how close it is to breaking, and if there's a way to stop it. That requires a firsthand look.

Sadie's eyes widened. "You're going back there? After all my parents did to free you?"

"I'll only approach the prison from the outside," I promised. "I'll be careful. I am a creature of stealth, after all. Besides, I'm the only one who knows how to find his cell, and that part of the Duat would be lethal to a mortal. I-I must do this."

My voice trembled and I cursed myself for it. I couldn't even control my feelings, what was I thinking playing the hero?

"I won't leave you undefended," I promised. "I have a friend. He should arrive from the Duat by tomorrow. I've asked him to find you and protect you."

"A friend?"

I winced.

"Sort of." As much as anyone could call themselves my friend.

Carter sighed. "I'll get packed. We can leave in an hour."

Sadie got up, looked disappointedly at her unfinished breakfast. Then, to everyone's shock, she sat back down.

"No."

"No?" Carter asked.

"It's my birthday." She crossed her arms.

Some of the initiates tried to sing Happy Birthday, but it was quickly drawned out by Carter and Sadie glaring at each other. I half expected something to blow up.

"Bast said her friend won't arrive until tomorrow," Sadie continued. "Amos said it would take Desjardins some time to prepare any sort of attack. Besides, I've been planning my trip to London for ages. I think I have time for one bloody day off before the world ends."

Everyone stared at her. Where was this coming from? Sadie had always been the first to run towards danger, eager to help her family whatever it took. She wouldn't just turn around like that without a good reason, not when the stakes are so high. Had we tired her out without noticing? How long had this been bubbling up under the surface?

I was her protector, first and foremost. I should have noticed earlier. Maybe then this entire situation would have been avoided.

Carter's expression was part anger, part disbelief.

Just when it seemed like we'll have to break up a fight, Amos interceded.

"Sadie, a visit to London is dangerous." He held up his hand before she could protest. "However, if you must," He took a deep breath, as if he didn't like what he was about to say. "Then at least promise you'll be careful. I doubt Vlad Menshikov will be ready to move against us so quickly. You should be all right as long as you use no magic, do nothing to attract attention."

"Amos!" Carter protested.

Amos cut him off with a stern look. "While Sadie is gone, we can begin planning. Tomorrow morning, the two of you can begin your quest. I will take over your teaching duties with our trainees, and oversee the defense of Brooklyn House."

It was clear he didn't actually want Sadie to leave. Especially alone. But they locked eyes and wave of understanding passed between them.

"Thank you, Amos," she managed.

Amos stood, clearly indicating that the meeting was over.

"I think that's enough for one morning. The main thing is for all of you to continue your training, and don't despair. We'll need you in top shape to defend Brooklyn House. We will prevail. With the gods on our side, Ma'at will overcome Chaos, as it always has before."