Chapter Seven

We Teach an Old Monster New Tricks

I really hated to have a reunion/introduction at this time. There was a monster we were chasing, after all.

"Who the Hel is this?" Magnus demanded, brushing the dust from his clothes. He marched past Carter and inspected his wife. Alex pushed his hands away with an annoyed, yet thankful, glare. She had a lot of Annabeth-like tendencies. She was a fierce warrior, with a lone wolf attitude. She didn't always need or want any help, but she was secretly glad that someone cared for her. And Magnus, was a lot like me. He wanted to help anybody that he cared about. Magnus wrapped Alex in a hug.

"You know I'm gonna worry, Alex." It made me wish Annabeth were here. She brushed away his comment, hiding the smile playing at the edge of her lips. I turned away as he kissed her cheek.

"To answer your question, Magnus," I said, facing Carter. "This is Carter Kane, and his sister Sadie."

"And what are they?" Magnus asked apprehensively. "They don't look like Greeks to me. Or Romans."

This was true. Carter was holding a wand in one hand, and his other rested off the hilt of his Khopesh. Basically, that's just a sword with a curved blade. It's not a very common weapon. At least, not for us demigods. His brown hair came down to about his shoulders and he had a very powerful aura about him. Sadie, on the other hand, was pale with blonde hair that had streaks of strawberry red. She had combat boots on with a leather jacket, delivering a completely different persona from her brother, who was wearing robes. She looked like a rebellious school girl from England, honestly. Sadie wore two amulets around her neck, twisting them between her fingers.

"Well, they're magicians for the Egyptian gods."

Magnus stared. "You're kidding. Egyptians?"

"Got a problem with it?" Sadie challenged.

"Not at all."

"What are you doing here? How did you stop those rocks?" I interjected. I had questions and I needed answers.

"Those rocks were the Piroboli," Carter started.

"Yeah, so we were told," I grumbled.

"Their name means 'Fire Stone'. They were first introduced in the book Phsyiologus, by the Christian Theologian Titus Flavius Clemens. Although, that's not confirmed. It was more anonymous. But that doesn't matter."

Gods, he sounded like Annabeth when he spouted out random facts.

"Anyway, the rocks were considered a metaphor for a Christian lifestyle. Clemens argued that men should stay away from all women, because men would not be able to handle their lust, hence depicted by the flame. The story goes that the Piroboli, together, could make men and women go crazy, unable to resist each other. Very similar to, uh, Aphrodite's magic, Percy."

I blushed. I know Carter didn't know my secret story, and I wasn't eager to let him know. So, there was this one time, where Annabeth and I recovered Aphrodite's magical scarf when we were twelve. Annabeth snatched it from me, claiming it had "love magic." One day, though, I found it at Camp Half-Blood, and put it on as a joke. There was definitely love magic. Anyway, long story short, I'm not talking about that day ever again, and Annabeth knows better than to bring it up. It was just as embarrassing for her.

Carter continued.

"Honestly, I'm surprised nothing happened to you two." He pointed at Magnus and Chase. "You must be very strong to resist that magic." He looked impressed.

Alex chewed her lip, seemingly annoyed.

"Or, maybe it's because I'm not all woman." She said. Carter scrunched his eyes, confused. Then, they shot up, and he smiled nervously.

"Oh. . .oh. . ." he trailed off. "Um, uh, anyway, so the only way to destroy the rocks is to fight fire with fire. We used a simple hieroglyphic spell for a bomb. Explosions are pretty much the only way to destroy them. I, uh, actually figured that out from the, uh, Final Fantasy video game series." He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly, like he was embarrassed. Annabeth would have done the same thing if she had gotten her information from a video game. My heard longed for her even more.

"Okay, so how do you know so much about them?" Alex questioned. Sadie nodded in my direction.

"My big bro and I met Annabeth and Percy years ago. We found out that the Greek gods exist, as well as the Egyptian gods. After that, Carter has gone nuts in the library, studying all he can about Greek and Roman monsters, and just mythology in general. He claims he's had a vision of the end of the world and it's going to involve both parties. Something that ends in fire. He won't tell me exactly what, though. So, naturally, when we got reports from the Nome that the Piroboli were here, we came to see it personally. It seems that Carter's vision is gonna be true."

Carter glared at the dirtI didn't like this. And, yeah, I know I say that a lot. With my heritage, you just get used to it. This whole Quest seemed based around fire. Impending Doom was waiting just around the corner for me. Was it possible that Carter's vision was the same thing as my dream? Maybe he had been given a dream about the Prophecy. Magic and the gods. Was this the Prophecy's first twist? The Egyptians were involved, too?

"What Gnome do you talk to?" Magnus asked. Sadie laughed hysterically.

"Not like the creature, but Nome, N-O-M-E," she spelled out. "It's a Greek term, yes, but in general, its just a section of land under Egypt's rule. There's a bunch of individual Nomes throughout the World. Each one is protected by a group of Magicians. If there's any threat, the Nome's magicians are sworn to protect it. Now, Carter and I are kind of over it all. If there's an extra-large threat, we get called to action."

Carter gestured to the now blackened grass. "Today was one of those days."

Magnus and Alex tried to process all the information they just received. It was a lot all at once. I had come to terms with it all slowly over time, but it still made me dizzy thinking about it sometimes."

"So, you're telling me there's three sets of gods, all occupying North America?" Magnus said in disbelief.

"Three?" Carter asked.

I laughed. It felt good, even though it would be short lived.
"Oh, gods, Carter. You're in for a surprise. Magnus and Alex here? They're dead and they came from Valhalla. The Norse gods."

Sadie and Carter were about ready to collapse.

"B-but. But how? Gods, are there anymore? What's next, the Cherokee gods?"

I thought about my old friend, Piper McLean. She was part Indian. Er, Native American, I mean.

"Uh, actually, Carter. That's a very real possibility."

He acted like he'd been punched. He pointed at Magnus.

"You're dead?"

"Yep." He paused. "Technically." He added.

Carter sat down, running the possibilities in his head.

"We're einherji. We died bravely in combat, sacrificing ourselves for someone. A Valkyrie took us to Valhalla, where we were granted hero ship. Inside Valhalla, we can't die. However, if we were to die down here in the mortal world, we'd finally die for good. No Valhalla this time."

"Percy, we need to talk, now." Carter said.

I thought that's what we'd been doing. He sounded scared, as if he'd just remembered he left the stove on after boarding an airplane.

"Not here, somewhere safe."
"Uh, we can't really do that right now. We're waiting on this creature to show up so we can kill it. Grendel. Heard of him?"

Carter paled. I mean, his skin turned ghastly white. I frowned.

"Hey, you good, man?" I asked cautiously. Sadie backed up in surprise.

"Sadie, we need to go." He grabbed his sister's hand tightly.

"Carter, what the crap?" she yanked her hand away.

"Listen to me, Sadie. This isn't our fight. Percy, when you're done here. Meet up with us. Just say my name, and I'll be there."

The siblings had a stare-off, before Sadie surrendered.

"Fine. You'd better not be screwing anything up, Carter. Just 'cause you're Pharaoh doesn't mean you know everything."

Sadie mumbled a spell under her breath, and a portal opened. Carter looked at me, as if he were signing my death certificate.

"You'll survive this one, Percy."

With that, they disappeared into the portal.

"Well, that was cryptic." Alex complained. "I think you have some more explaining to do, Percy."

I caved, telling them about my dream and how much it scared me.

"Gods, please don't tell Annabeth. I'll tell her when I'm ready. I-I just don't know how."

Magnus nodded in understanding. I wondered what they must think of me.

"I got you. But, Percy, this is some pretty serious stuff. Why did you still agree to come on this Quest if you think you're going to die?"

"I. . .I just felt like I was supposed to. I was told a long time ago not to try to mess with Fate. That's a big no-no. As Annabeth said one time: Que Sera, Sera. I think it means something like 'It is what it is.' I'm not sure." I said.

Alex scoffed. "Whatever will be, will be." She corrected me. "I mean, you're not necessarily wrong, though. You've got the gist of it."

She started to say something else, but we were cut off by a large crash.

"That must be our 2 o'clock," I quipped. I uncapped Riptide and ran in the direction of the sound. Alex shapeshifted into a large eagle, clutching Magnus and I in her talons.

"Man, I feel like I'm in Lord of the Rings!" I shouted. Magnus offered me a fist bump.

"Yes, I've actually seen that one!"

We soared over the rooftops, wind whistling past my ears. When I saw our monster, my heart stopped. He was a lot bigger than I expected. Probably about 15 feet tall. He wasn't the biggest creature I'd ever fought, but just as intimidating. I pointed out Grendel, even though I was sure he was hard to miss.

"Hey!" I shouted, trying to sound intimidating. Grendel stopped eating a chunk of the "Best Deli" store to survey his new opponents. His hairy lips curled upwards in a sinister grin.

"Remember what Blitz said," Magnus cried. "We have a limited window to defeat him before he learns our every move to defeat us."

Grendel's fur began to glow. My body felt like jelly. I felt as if my body were draining itself of energy. Alex dropped us onto the street, divebombing for Grendel's head. He easily swatted her aside. She lost focus, losing her eagle form, crashing into a nearby hot dog vendor.

"Alex!" Magnus screamed. He snarled. "Jack, attack."

His sword flew into the air, flying around Grendel, slashing and cutting. All the while, the sword belted out songs. Were those showtunes? Regardless, Jack wasn't getting much accomplished. Meanwhile, I ran towards Grendel, calling on the water from a hydrant to give me a boost. I jumped in the air, willing the water to crate a platform underneath me. It lifted me into the air, until I was at eye level with Grendel. I slashed downward, aiming for his eyes. Grendel jerked back. Riptide barely scratched his nose. Grendel's meaty hand grasped my body before I had a chance to respond. I gasped, struggling for air. I felt a rib crack. He hadn't even learned my techniques and he was already getting the upper hand. I decided not to ever underestimate an enemy ever again.

"AU-Gack!" I choked out.

Jack the sword flew by, impaling itself into Grendel's fist. The giant yelped, letting me drop. I landed on my shoulder, hearing a pop that I was sure didn't mean something good. My vision blurred. Gods, I had gotten rusty over the years. I clambered to my feet, the right side of my body searing with pain. I clutched my sword in my left hand. I stepped into the puddle of water, the pain subsiding. Water had healing properties for me. It couldn't fix anything major, but it could subside pain and get rid of a few scratches or so. I saw Magnus lunge for Grendel. Alex had regained her composure, shifting into a Gorilla. That was a good choice. She leapt onto Grendel's back, forcing him into a chokehold. I wobbled feebly over, stabbing my sword best I could into Grendel's foot. He screeched in outrage, kicking me back. I flew a good twenty feet before landing against a parked car.

My back seemed to have given out. I pulled myself from the wreckage, immediately dropping to the ground. I crawled on all fours, looking at the fight happening in front of me. Alex (in Gorilla form) had brought Grendel to his knees. The creature grunted, struggling to get Alex off. Magnus shoved Grendel's knees apart, bringing him to his stomach. His fur stopped glowing and his body suddenly went rigid. With a might roar, Grendel propelled himself into the sky. Shocked, Alex lost her grip, flying sideways into a dumpster. Her form flickered, shifting from ape to human, until she finally collapsed in human form. She stood again, ready to fight, but I could tell she didn't have much energy left. Something about Grendel made us weaker in the fight. The monster landed firmly on the ground, causing imprints where his feet were.

"You've only made me stronger, you fools," he grunted, his voice deep, raspy, and hollow. I wasn't expecting Grendel to be able to talk. He smiled again; he stretched out his hand. Water erupted from the street, knocking Magnus, who was the last man standing, off his feet. He turned into an eagle, flapping his wings into the sky.

Oh, good gods.

I tried to stand, collapsing again. My body couldn't handle any more injury. Pain coursed through every nerve. From my position on the ground, I saw Alex rush to Magnus.

"Where's Percy?" Magnus asked, looking around.

"Over here," I croaked out, unsure if he heard me. They spotted me.

"Good gods, Percy!"

"C-Carter," I murmured. My vision got blurrier.

"No, Percy, worry about him later. We're getting you back to Annabeth."

"No! She-she'll only worry. Don't mess with Fate." I couldn't go back like this. We had just gotten started. We had a quest to finish.

"Grendel didn't just learn our techniques, Percy. He adapted our powers. We can't fight him anymore. You're useless like this!" Magnus argued.

"N-no. Wait. . . on. . .Carter."

My head was spinning. I squinted into the concerned faces of my step-cousins. I blacked out.