-Set-

The look in the new Chief Lector's eyes says it all. Maybe it hadn't been that foolish of a move from the kid after all. But the conflict in the Frenchman's eyes as he's processing the information Amos had thrown before him?

I send a spark of lightning at his soul, just to hear the yelp of pain from his ba. A struggle with the bounds on his hands as he tries his best to grit and bear through it as I peer back within. A click of my tongue, I force his head up with my right hand to gain eye contact with my host. The fire there only makes me smirk.

"He won't do anything, you poor thing," I taunt. "Don't you know? He loves you like a son. This isn't the last stand you were hoping for."

It almost extinguishes that fire, fear taking over as my resisting host realizes that I'm right. But there's a spark of hope there that Desjardins will hear his silent plea. It's gleefully ruined when Zia summons a pillar of fire to hunt Amos' hope for an end to it all. I chuckle as misery hits as he watches Michel back off.

Please, don't go.

"He won't be much of a fight anyway," I reassure, fueling the fire seeming to eat at him. "You're the second most powerful mage, didn't you hear? And what is some mut of a magician going to do against us? Hmm?"

"I-" He struggles some with the bonds again, but the torture I've been entertaining myself with is taking a toll. "-not on your side."

I cock my head to the right, watching to see he can't seem to keep his head up at this point. "Oh Amos," I step closer to speak into his left ear. "No matter what, it's still us they have to fend off, even if you keep resisting. You want to protect these kids, no? And what does the Per Ankh want from them?"

No response, I jab my left index into his chest, scarred some already that I reopen a spot much to his suffering. "Dead, no? They already don't like the fact they are of two bloodlines. But hosting gods too? Much too risky to the powerful of the Per Ankh, right?"

I cup his chin again and back off to face him again. "I gave you the option, hadn't I? Did I not offer the throne? Your girl? Freedom for your family from prosecution? How is that not enough to persuade you?"

He swallows harshly, squirms some in an attempt to pull away from me but it's futile. He only has two options, and both he dislikes for the moment. Be my right hand, show the Per Ankh their foolish ways. Rule over them all with a firm hold in our power above the rest. After all, most of them are oblivious that Iskandar had an apprentice. And there's a clear reason why he chose this one out of them all.

The other option is the route he has decided he'd prefer for now. Resisting in a sad attempt to keep morals. I'm very much entertained by the struggle he insists on, but it's still a tad annoying.

I snarl as I snap back to the ongoing fight. I thought it was over, a clear win against the weak Per Ankh. So why did Desjardins just summon Sekhmet? Desperation, probably a try to give his fellow magician a helping hand. A sign he understands what Amos is asking of him, but he won't be able to follow through, not here at least. Children are so easily gullible, enough to keep Michel far enough away much to Kane's distress to witness.

I demand the younglings run, that I intend to fend off Sekhmet for some time. I smirk as I sense Amos' hope reignite again. He wants to die so badly. Just to stop me? Adorable.

Sekhmet wasn't interested in fighting me, but not without firing a series of burning arrows at us first before leaping after the younglings. Enough to fill the head space with cries. "You really thought she would do anything? You think she cares at all about humans? You know she killed humans for turning on the gods, right?"

The defeat is enough that he is on his knees, hands still forced above his head by the bindings I had placed. The hurt look on his face says it all. He was hoping she would just kill him for being near her.

"She sensed me, idiot," I kneel to be at his level, much to his immediate disgust. "You're so desperate for death, it's honestly quite sad, Kane. But if you desire it so much, I can give you that. You can watch me take the throne in your last breath. How does that sound?"

"Va te faire foutre-" He's cut short by another shot of red electricity at my command. The display of power over him is so amusing to me. The fact that he's the best the Per Ankh has to offer these days? His tortured screams taste so sweet to my ears.

I yank a handful of braids with my right hand, forcing him to look up at me. He's still recovering from the attack I just dealt, but the fire in his eyes is gone now. This is a crushed and frantic man now. Who knew that someone like Desjardins had that kind of power?

"Set?" That worried tone from the Lord of the Afterlife pulls me back.

Right, the fucking Imperial Gold knife that Mel tossed before us, in an attempt to have us free her of her bonds. Determined to free herself of guilt, I know that feeling. After all, I promised he'd see me on the throne, hadn't I? Instead, he asked for permission to pass on, something I also had no word on edge-wise. I killed him. And worse of all, I didn't keep the original promise I had made. Of course, it had been malicious at the time I had said it, but I'm still holding it against myself. After all, he still refused to sit on that stupid chair, rejecting me that reward in the end. That should mean he should still be alive, right?

The stupid look on Osiris' host's face enters my view. Why are you so suddenly concerned about me? I'm the ass that killed you, or did you forget that? I focus my eyes on the host Anat had chosen to take on, preferring to ignore the implication from Julius Kane. I am fury itself; I won't cry over the loss of another host.

I kick dirt over the stupid knife. "We're not releasing you. You chose to give Anat an ear, a voice in any of this. You know that she tried to kill your precious Chief Lector before now? I banished her, I protected him. Because they didn't like the thought of him not wanting the throne for himself."

Her eyes widen to my words. I turn away from the woman. "He would be disappointed, you know? That another magician of the Per Ankh caved to the poisoned words of chaos. Over his demise too. How pathetic the Per Ankh is, honestly."

A blue hand firmly lands on my left shoulder. I brush it quickly off of me as I turn on my heels. Stop trying to get me to focus on my emotions, you idiot. Can he not see that I, the god of destruction, am busy handling a serious situation within this Roman camp at the moment? And I won't be tolerating anyone else getting in my way. This is the bed I rested Kane on. Unwillingly, of course.

Perhaps I should have been the one to stop him. We both knew that he was walking head-first into the stupid prophecy his father firmly believed was his own. However, Amos didn't much care. Solidified after the first week in Camp Half-Blood. Children are a serious weakness of his. But it seemed to keep fueling him to keep pushing forward, so I can't help but admire it to some degree.

Enough that I am back in the middle of this nonsensical drama between pantheons once more. I doubt anyone else would have negotiated that out of me, let alone being back on Egypt's side once more. Iskandar had clearly listened to Thoth's words of wisdom, when the royal family had not. It's no wonder the Per Ankh is still bleeding out after having lost their late General as well.

Julius picks up the knife, but has now decided to stand between Whittaker and myself to try and get my attention again. I scoff and take a step back. "What?" I demand of the annoying shit.

"It wasn't your fault."

My eyes narrow. His stupid expression, empathy I guess is what they call it these days, it's on the verge of making me break down. But I can't do that, Set doesn't weep. A god of war and destruction cannot afford to do as much. It's wiser to use my upset towards rage against the enemy.

Worse, the damn fool is approaching me as if I am his younger brother. I take another step back and take a moment to notice he had brushed the dirt off of the knife already with his thumb. "I know the weapon reacted to the damage-"

"You don't know shit, Kane." I take another step back as I process the anger I just let out on him. "You didn't see it for yourself. Or know that Horus' stupid eye survived that weaponry and he couldn't. I did that!"

He extends a hand and I take two more steps back, gripping my staff harder as I glare the idiot down. "You want to hand out sympathy? Give it to the woman behind you."

"You're more dangerous than she is."

I give a short laugh, extending my arms out to bring his attention to his surroundings again. "Did I bring war upon a camp of children?"

"You've brought war upon your own pantheon, Set." Julius studies me for a moment.

"Are you telling me I was wrong to do so?" I challenge.

The idiot processes the question before nodding to my point. He should know best of all, having walked away from the Per Ankh. Ditching his brother to his fate alone, but clearly unhappy having done as much. It only took me to open the kid's eyes, recognize the rage he had been shoving down for years.

"Amos-"

"Don't," I snap. "Take care of the new General, Anat's fight is over now that she knows I'm still around. Make sure she can't get further involved; I don't need some guilt-riddled girl in my way too."

I pause to Anat's protest. Let me fight alongside you!

"Not a chance. You're not here over the loss of Kane, your host is. You were right though," I wait a moment to make sure she is paying attention. "Tamer of the Storm, right? Imagine what would have happened to you and your sister if you did succeed?"

Anat, now fully aware she is still very much on my shit list, is now silent in her protests to leave her on the sidelines. The poor host, however, isn't. Struggling with the magic I had strung her to the tree with. In a different situation, I would consider releasing her, as our goals are practically parallel. She just fucked up by bringing an army of magicians to Camp Jupiter's front door. Threatening Kane's efforts for an alliance. And… Well, I can't afford her doing as much.

A familiar pull calls at me. Oh, the girl is using it. I reckon I better evaluate the situation and assist. I peer at Julius before doing so. "Have fun cleaning up for once!"

-Carter Kane-

I was able to catch up to my General until she had reached the wall. I wasn't able to see much of what was happening beyond it, but I did catch a glimpse of Dad having officially clashed khopeshs with her. Yelling for them to stop had meant nothing to either of them, seeming very focused on their fight instead.

A tsk sounds off to my left. I look over to see a combat magician eyeing me, khopesh firmly in his right hand. "So fast to change your mind, Kane. It's honestly ridiculous."

Well… fair enough I suppose. But having seen my father on the other side of the battlefield was quite the wake-up call in its own right. Seeing the fear within the Per Ankh to him addressing them? Melissa's furious response back… I shouldn't have just followed my emotions. Horus had been right, everyone had been.

"Your grandfather was more ruthless," the unknown combat taunts. "He killed my father for failing to train an initiate combat. Your uncle, if I were to make a guess. Unsure why he would care otherwise."

I grip my khopesh tighter. Great, the last thing I need to be worrying about right now. I briefly take in my surroundings to see a few other combat magicians zoning in, but not seemingly on my side of this tension.

"That's just one story, however. Most of us have some sob story that your grandfather inflicted on us," he continues on with some humor in his tone to the matter.

"I am sorry for your loss," I start. "I am aware Jabari wasn't a good person. I strive to be better than-"

"Don't care!" One of the other combats yells.

The first smirks in response to that, apparently in agreement. "We feel the best payment for it all is if we get to put you in the ground. You're the pride of the family now, right? Seeing as you made it as Pharaoh and all. And now that your pest of an uncle isn't around to protect you? Well, no time is better than the chaos of a battlefield for you to die in, right?"

One launches at me, and I quickly parry his weapon before summoning a fist of Horus. I pause as I recognize the additional force applied to it. The others seemed to hesitate a moment in response.

I'm here, Horus answers. You seem to finally understand what I was telling you.

He still seems a tad irritated. Fair, I hadn't listened to what he was trying to say.

We can discuss this later, Carter. Right now, we need to put the Per Ankh back in their place. Your uncle's passing has upset the balance some. Apparently. Well, we need to fix that, don't we?

-Vika Menshikov-

Looking over the battlefield, blood pools everywhere along with the destruction, embers still going left to burn out. The auditable gasp to my right reminds me I'm not alone in taking the carnage in.

"It would appear that Mel got her war after all," I huff, explaining to her what we're seeing.

"No, I was supposed to tell Carter it wasn't them so this wouldn't happen. Why…?"

Because people do things out of our control. I turn away from the destruction that I can't tell what is Roman or Egyptian. "Stay here, I'll see what I can do to halt what is happening," I instruct quickly with a quick tap on the girl's shoulder.

"No, I'm coming with!" Sadie snaps, and I wince as I recall myself pleading to come help my brothers.

"Don't you think we've lost enough Kanes already?" I ask, before facing her again.

There's a confidence to her that radiates over the carnage in the background. Is that Isis' doing? Or is it strictly the fact that she is her father's daughter? If so, I can see why Amos would get tired of seeing it from Julius.

"I can't call myself a Kane if I just stand by, Vika." Yeah, there's that stupid arrogance embedded into their gene pool. Can't even imagine working around an older brother that acts this way.

I snort at the thought and brush it away, eyes narrowing on Sadie Kane, who only responds by narrowing hers as well. "Fine, just don't get yourself killed."