-Trevor Starr-

I could use a beer, but all that Sabat was willing to offer was wine. Max and I both passed on the offer from our host. He opened the doors for us to discuss the situation in San Francisco. Julius Kane's oldest has made it clear that he is for fighting the Roman camp at this point. This was not just Mel letting the power get to her head when our Pharaoh was the one reaching out for reinforcements.

This information has me on edge. He's contacted several nomes so far with support for the most part to grow their numbers in Kurtz's nome. Paris is one of them, and Francis informs me that his mother had already assigned most of her members there yesterday. "As a show of support from family ties, of course." Don't think I've eye-rolled harder than I did upon hearing that.

Is Carter going to expect his initiates to join in his war? I just allowed my daughter to start training in New York upon her asking. I make a mental note to reach her tonight and pry some. As her father, I think I'm most certainly allowed to step in and pull my daughter out if that is his expectation. Melanie might be pissed off if it resorts to that, but a host of Hathor has no business being in a situation like that in the first place.

Max Hunter appears visibly annoyed by everything we are discussing. Having seen what they had done to Sebastian Kurtz, his fellow Animal Charmer and childhood friend, he insisted on coming with me to this meeting. He's still indifferent to the fight brewing but has made it very evident that he wants Whittaker to answer for what she has done. "Amos would never, and we both know damn well Kyra wouldn't either."

Max made sure to voice the matter with Francis, who is in obvious agreement on the matter. But hesitated once Max mentioned that Kyra should have taken the General of Armies position as it was offered to her first. "We shouldn't hold that against her. I fear she feels it would mean her replacing her cousin, and that's a huge thing to ask of her."

I nod in agreement to that. The stress and misery on her face when we talked last, she wants to be left alone mostly. Let her grieve another family member's death without being pestered to step into his shoes so soon. Besides, she's taken care of her ex-boyfriend, expecting her to do more might break her further.

"Then do we have any other suggestions for replacing Melissa?" Max sounds his annoyance on the matter. "Sorry, but I believe Kyra needs to swallow down the grief and take on this responsibility. We need sound minds in the General spot, not lunatics."

I sigh at that, earning Max's glare on me now. "You do realize that most of the Per Ankh consider Amos Kane a lunatic as well, right?"

"He wouldn't have bashed the hell out of a Nome Leader's head unprovoked!"

"He publicly murdered Friedrich after Carter pardoned him," I remind quickly. "Hosted the god of evil. Son to Jabari Kane. I mean, the list is kind of endless for those that would pose that argument, Max."

"I thought the two of you were getting along," Max's eyes narrowed as if a dare to challenge that.

"We were," I sit up straighter. "Max, I'm the one that provided him the khopesh to take out Friedrich, I'm on his side. I'm just explaining what the other side sees on the matter."

"Trevor is right," Francis butts in swiftly before Max can respond. "Once we got news of Amos' passing, my mother celebrated. She was the only one drinking red wine that night, brushing off the worried looks the rest of our nome was giving her for her reaction. The amount of members asking why she would be celebrating the death of someone she claims to support 'from family ties' is sickening."

I hold back from calling Chloe a bitch to her son's face, but I suspect he already agrees with the name-calling if I were to say it. There's a very obvious reason why Francis is planning things without his mother in the picture. And why he's leaning on other Nome Leaders for support for the moment.

A boy about twelve entered the dining room, straightening his posture upon seeing Max and me in the room with Sabat. Francis spots him quickly and addresses him in French. Promptly the kid responds and goes back to the dining room entryway to hold the door open. I lean forward in my chair despite the table being in the way to see a familiar face enter.

"Zia Rashid, it's been a while," Francis breaks the silence in the room as he gestures to the boy to dismiss himself. "I believe the last time we met, you were fifteen?"

She sighs and takes in Max and I as well before facing Sabat. "It has been a while Francis. For some reason, Michel decided against the idea of me entering his nome since. Then again, I think he was trying to keep our assignments to just observing the Kane Mansion."

"Oh, you had a part to play in the whole restricting Amos thing, good to know," Max spits out fast.

Francis gives a nervous laugh to that reaction as Zia's eyes land on us again, seeming to register that I seem familiar to her as well. "Trevor Starr, what are you doing here?"

I lean back in my chair now, "The same can be asked of you."

She takes a moment to process us some more before facing Francis. "What is going on?"

"Uh," is Francis' nervous response to that. After all, he's facing the future queen of the Per Ankh. Plotting against the Pharaoh isn't exactly the ideal thing to say here.

"We're discussing your fiance wanting war with the Roman camp," I answer plainly, earning looks of disbelief from our host and Max. "Now, you want to tell Sabat what you need from him or not?"

There's something in her gaze at my words, realization? Great, maybe she's onto us. Whatever, I think I can pull off rogue magician nonsense like my old man.

"I was hoping you'd allow me to read Desjardins' journals that he handed down to you, Francis," Zia faces him as she asks.

He blinks in surprise to that, "Um, I'm not sure what you are hoping to find?"

"I'm looking for whatever it is that Kane is hiding," she answers quickly, seeming a tad annoyed at having to explain it. Sighing as she takes us in again, she seems resolved to continue. "Sabat, if you read it all like you told Carter, then you know that Amos lied about not knowing about Iskandar's apprentice. I know Michel wrote about it, he was very much in the know."

I've yet to see fear on this man's face, but it was there as he took in Zia. Kyra mentioned something about this, and I kind of brushed past it as some new weird myth that's circling. I never really worked around Chief Lector Iskandar, let alone get to know him to any degree. I doubt the old man had the time to be doing something like training someone. And there's no way it would be some big secret and said person wouldn't use that opportunity for bragging rights amongst the rest of the Per Ankh. The idea of it all, honestly, is hilariously absurd.

"An apprentice to Chief Lector Iskandar?" Max questions in the silence that followed her explanation. "The man was too busy keeping everyone in the Per Ankh in check. Doubt he had the time or energy to consider privately tutoring someone like you're implying."

"He taught me some things, he managed the time," Zia reassures. "The man adopted me after my village's destruction. Don't talk to me as if I have no clue on the matter, thank you."

Fair enough, I process the fact that Francis is standing straighter now, seeming as if he's debating between caving or not. Fuck, he knows something. "Okay, spill it, Sabat," I glare at him as he takes me in. "Who is this apprentice of Iskandar's?"

Francis isn't happy about all of this, but he offers Rashid a seat, which she only takes in hopes of him hurrying up. "I learned a lot about the Kanes from what Desjardins wrote. Sure, he worked alongside the Kane brothers, so of course he knows something, I just didn't realize to what degree until I finally read it all. Zia knows, I told our Pharaoh of Nadia's love affair with Michel. They had been courting, but due to Jabari Kane's assistance with disposing of a god threatening the Seattle Nome, she married him to avoid a conflict in the form of payment to him."

I immediately rub my face, being reminded of things from the past that are suddenly emerging back from where I shoved them. My old man had scorned me for bullying my peers again. Desjardins this time, reporting that he had spotted me threatening another peer, happened to be Amos. Told me to knock it off, that not everything in their household was happy. There were issues in the background, hinting at the idea that their mother was in love with someone else entirely.

And my ass turned around and told Julius that his brother was a bastard for it. Rightfully earned myself threats from him, and my stupid ass walked away as if I won for just knowing only part of the story. Because how else does a combat family end up with a statuary kid, right? Honestly, Julius deserved to kick my teeth in, he just never actually did it.

"Do you need a moment?" Francis asks me.

"No, sorry," I sigh as I intentionally clasp my hands on top of the table instead. "Just recalling how much of an asshole I was as a kid. Please continue."

After all, I already knew, the journal my father wrote for me to read stated as much. Not sure why I was suddenly reminded of the past incident between Julius and me now. The next time I see him I might actually ask him to throw a punch at least, because I know damn well Amos won't.

"-failed his intermediate course. Of course, wasn't his fault, the one teaching it never intended for him to pass. Michel mentioned in his investigation on the matter that Kane had been blackmailing his father until his deathbed. Having one of his kids in his class? He figured it to be revenge for his father's behavior."

"Sorry, who failed what?" I ask, realizing I was distracted.

"Amos Kane failed his intermediate statuary course," Zia catches me up.

Max immediately shakes his head at that. "I'm sorry, he didn't end up retaking anything. He was way too bookwormy and even skipped over some courses for it at times. Julius barely scraped by his classes because Amos helped him. That was probably to make sure they both weren't disappointments, but whatever."

"I have to agree with Max," I pipe in. "He was still taking his courses, I would have known if he had to retake anything." Zia raises an eyebrow at me for that. "Consider me like his number one hater at the time."

Zia is immediately not impressed, wanting to say something, but Francis interrupts it all by continuing. "He did continue taking his classes, but they shifted his studying in statuary. He was being tutored by Iskandar himself. To the annoyance of Jabari Kane as well. Jabari and Iskandar had agreed to minimize the amount of people aware. Jabari for not wanting to show support in the idea that Amos was not a combat magician like he had hoped, Iskandar just not wanting to draw attention to the matter. Michel mentioned that the advanced statuary teachers noticed immediately, and had to be warned to not speak on it-"

Fuck, my hands are shaking as I take it all in. It's possible they are speaking the truth on the matter. Jabari would have imposed on his children to not discuss it. No matter how much I joke about it, Jabari was Amos' biggest hater as we were growing up. I know that; I saw him struggle in combat magic when we started as initiates in Cairo. Trying to appease his old man, and I just know that was a never-ending cycle of never being enough.

I already apologized to Amos for our past, and he quickly accepted as if it wasn't a big deal. I should have known, I was just a pest in the big picture of things. And again, I want to apologize, for his father being a fucking asshole. But that's now empty, considering he's dead.

I couldn't process anything that was being said between Sabat and Rashid. So I instead got up and left, slipping my jacket on before leaving through the front door of the Fourteenth Nome. I didn't care which direction I went, I just needed to walk away at this point.

If anyone in the Per Ankh was to keep quiet about having the honor of learning from Iskandar himself, it had to be Amos Kane. Anyone else would boast about it, truly. No one else would ever see an opportunity like it. The Per Ankh would be at his beck and call with that knowledge.

I found myself alongside the Seine, and I decided to lean against the fence blocking immediate access to the river. Paris is still bustling despite it being early morning, but I can take in the sounds of the river passing through the city. Across the river, it's bright from the city lights, but I'm reminded it's Osiris' territory to us.

I sniff in an attempt to hold back some of my emotions. "I'm probably the last person you would ever want to hear from, but I need to get this off my chest anyway. Shit's been fucked since your brother died, Julius. And I just know if you were still with us, you'd be knocking teeth out of most of us."

There's a siren that goes off across the river, but otherwise, it's just the river that responds. "I hope they find your brother, I know you must be worried sick, I would be too."

I hesitate a bit, processing that I feel a bit silly talking to a river as if Julius will actually hear me or not. "I can't believe the two of you wouldn't tell us. Anyone else would have bragged about taking an apprenticeship from Chief Lector Iskandar of all people." I sigh to edge off any annoyance I have in the matter. "You told him to stay when the Per Ankh exiled you. You knew we needed him, and we didn't even know it. But you knew we didn't deserve it either, the Per Ankh is too greedy to realize what they have. Bet you were scared to leave him behind like that. Especially since he probably didn't see what you saw of your little brother, I'm sure."

The musty smell of the river is the only comfort. "I'm sorry. I was such an ass. And I'm sure others will regret it once they realize it, but we shouldn't pretend like I'm apologizing for them as well. Honestly, some of them are bigger jerks than I am."

I nod in annoyance that the only answer is still just the city sounds around us and the river. "I just wanted you to know that you're still a good older brother. I'm not sure Amos could have asked for better. And, I'm sorry for everything."

There's silence for a good two minutes until a car horn goes off to my distant left. "I'm sure Julius appreciates the sentiment," Max Hunter voices to my right.

I look at him and a pained laugh escapes my throat to the empathy on his face. "Sorry, I had to get away from it."

He nods and steps closer, taking in the river. "It was a lot to take in, to be honest. I didn't know I was friends with Iskandar's apprentice. Kind of explains a lot though, like why Iskandar listened to what he had to say about Jabari and exiled him. Even just how easily he took the leopard cape, honestly."

I inhale, remembering what Kyra had said about our enemy in Camp Jupiter. "He lied," I start. "He told his murderer that he didn't know of an apprentice."

Max tenses at that. "You think he knows what the Roman wanted from him?"

I lick my lips and shake my head. "That's what Zia is looking for, right? Think we need to get back there and see if they find anything."

-Jason Grace-

"Can I take a look?" Frank asks.

I thumb the cleaned-up silver denarius to the son of Mars without hesitation. "Why would he have a coin with Antony and Cleopatra's faces on it?" Hazel questions out loud.

I rub my face with my left hand in an attempt to rub the annoyance and frustration out. It didn't work, so I huffed instead as I watched Frank flip it over to read the Latin on Cleopatra's side. "I don't know. Right now, I'm concerned about where Percy is," I admit.

"He does teach theologies, right? Isn't there a theme with Egyptian royalty associating themselves as a manifestation of a god?" Frank's eyes lift from the coin to ask me these questions.

"I'm assuming that's more to do with hosting gods," I remind quickly. "Like Carter hosting their god Horus."

Frank frowns at that but hands the coin back to me. "We should call him out now," Hazel pushes. "If Percy is in danger, we need to do something now, not later."

"I don't have any physical evidence that he was there," I explain again, exasperated by the failure in doing so. "I won't have any support unless I have something to show." And right now, while the coin is of interest, it means nothing. So I slip it back into my pocket.

Frank and Hazel both seem annoyed but don't voice any protest seeming to understand that I feel the same on the matter. Frank opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by a legioneer yelling my name in the distance. All three of us look in the direction to find a son of Mercury running as fast as he can to us.

I step forward to ease up the distance he was making, and he stops to catch his breath once he makes it fifteen feet away. "J-Jason," he stops to gulp in air.

"What's the emergency?" I ask.

"I-you… have to see it."

I turn to the other two who seem interested in coming with, I walk forward and the legioneer goes to lead us on. Leading us towards the boundary of Camp Jupiter, he stops at, what I realize as we get closer, is a collection of scattered arrows, a bow, and a boomerang that is standing upright. Getting closer, I quickly noticed the dried blood staining the grass that smeared the scene.

The boomerang is of interest, immediately recognizing that Sadie Kane insisted it was a wand of sorts. "Egyptian," I process out loud, eyeing the bow lying on the ground, arrows further away but in the same laying order as the bow beside the magician's wand. Why is it standing like that, without any support either?

"Do you think it has something to do with the Egyptian General?" The kid asks, and I can tell he's a bit spooked from the collection of weapons scattered as they are.

"No, Mel and Amos didn't have bows, or at least as far as I know," I answer. "Looks like a scout."

Fear is the immediate response. "Should I inform Reyna?"

I hesitate, taking note that Hazel and Frank have caught up now, taking in the collection in the grass. "Yeah, let them know they are scouting the camp," I watch him run back immediately upon my permission.

"So Percy was right?" Hazel asks, "They are looking for a fight?"

"They're looking for answers," I correct quickly. "To them, their General disappeared once he stepped foot in our camp."

"Why ditch their weapons like that?" Frank voices as I wait for the son of Mercury to be further away before I take a closer look at the wand.

It seems angled as if it's leaning against something to keep it upright. I hesitate a moment but grip the wood and angle it towards me to see it is not held in place. Letting it go, it goes back to the same angle, but it strikes something that sparks gold against something invisible.

I remove my hand from the wand and press my hand to find the gold reaction is harmless, but there's clearly a wall of sorts there. I reach further above the wand to see the same wall. Towards the arrows, the wall is still there.

"They put up a barrier?" Hazel questions.

"I don't think they did," I gesture to the dried blood. "I think their scout was trying to warn everyone else."

"This is bad," Frank responds. "They can get in but no one can get out?"

I kneel in the grass and pick up two arrows to slam the arrowheads into the ground to make a cross formation. Then grab the bow to use the arrows to brace it and lean it against the wall. Frank, catching on that I'm trying to help the Egyptian that had passed scrambling to give as much of a warning as they can, starts gathering arrows and leaning them against the wall and ensuring they stay leaning with their arrowheads towards the sky.

Once we have all of the magician's tools against the wall we take a step back. It's about five feet long of warnings, giving enough space between each item in an attempt to make it look more suspicious. I nod as I mentally note that this is probably the best we can do for the moment.

Hopefully, Carter will take notice and hesitate before crossing. Or at least hold off from attacking, question what is going on here is not normal at least. The last thing I would want is for Carter to fall into the trap, especially after just losing his uncle to the same person. The very thing Amos always seemed spooked out by.

"We should inform Reyna," Hazel can barely say, taking in the scene before us.

"I don't think she'll listen," I hesitate. "Could tip Theo off doing so too."

"I think this is a pretty big thing, Jason. We should start publicly pointing fingers in his direction before anyone else gets hurt," Frank adds. "I'll do it, I haven't said much on any of this yet. Hopefully, they'll listen."

I inhale before prying my eyes from the blood in the grass. Frank has a serious expression on his face, and I can tell he intends to do as he says with or without my support on the matter. "We need to keep people around you after you do that. Don't need more people 'disappearing'." I explain.

"Same goes for you," Hazel pipes in quickly. "There's no way Theo doesn't think you are on to him."

"Guess we can group up then?" Frank suggests.

"No, that would open us both up to an attack if he feels we are both on to him. It needs to be people Theo would feel don't see through his façade yet."

Frank nods in understanding to that, instructing Hazel to stick with me for the rest of the day, saying he'll go bother someone for most of the day to keep someone nearby. He leaves, and Hazel turns to me as I pull the denarius out of my pocket.

Eyeing the blatant warning we assisted the sadly trapped and killed scout with. I approach and rest the coin beside the wand, For Cleopatra, Queen of kings and of her sons, being kings side up. Maybe they will make more sense of it than we can.