A/N Ok here we go new should be proud of me. I wrote this one in one day. Read and review.

CHAPTER 13: We Meet the Monkey

Ruby's pov (Didn't see that coming, did ya)

Bast read,

CHAPTER 4: We Meet the Monkey

"Seriously are all your chapters soo boring? There is no real action in it. I am feeling sleepy." Ares yawned. I glared at him. My babies' lives are already troubled and all he thinks about is action. Julius clasped my hand in his to show his support and I smiled at him.

IT'S CARTER AGAIN. SORRY.

"What are you sorry about? " Jason asked confused

We had to turn off the tape for a while because we were being followed by—well, we'll get to that later.

" Followed by what? " Leo questioned. " Monster Leo, monster. " Piper replied. " I knew it! " Leo beamed while Piper rolled their eyes.

Sadie was telling you how we left London, right?

"Yep," Percy answered.

So anyway, we followed Amos down to the weird boat docked at the quayside. I cradled Dad's workbag under my arm. I still couldn't believe he was gone.

"Yeah, I know how it feels!" Percy shuddered.

I felt guilty leaving London without him, but I believed Amos about one thing: right now Dad was beyond our help. I didn't trust Amos, but I figured if I wanted to find out what had happened to Dad, I was going to have to go along with him.

"Well, you were sort of right about not trusting Uncle that time," Sadie replied thoughtfully. " Why? What happened? " Julius demanded, not at all liking the fact that his kids were not trusting his brother. " In the book Dad. " Sadie said smiling innocently. Julius relented to his daughter's charms and relaxed.

He was the only one who seemed to know anything.

"Yes, he did. Sort of. " Julius muttered.

Amos stepped aboard the reed boat. Sadie jumped right on, but I hesitated. I'd seen boats like this on the Nile before, and they never seemed very sturdy.

It was woven together from coils of plant fiber—like a giant floating rug.

"Dude, do you still have that boat? I can make some excellent changes to it. " Leo exclaimed.

I figured the torches at the front couldn't be a good idea, because if we didn't sink, we'd burn.

"Being Cynical, aren't we? " Hestia raised her eyebrow.

At the back, the tiller was manned by a little guy wearing Amos's black trench coat and hat. The hat was shoved down on his head so I couldn't see his face. His hands and feet were lost in the folds of the coat.

" Yeah, little guy !" Sadie giggled and Carter smiled.

"How does this thing move?" I asked Amos. "You've got no sail."

" How is that going to move? " Leo's eyes widened.

"Trust me." Amos offered me a hand.

The night was cold, but when I stepped on board I suddenly felt warmer, as if the torchlight were casting a protective glow over us. In the middle of the boat was a hut made from woven mats. From Sadie's arms, Muffin sniffed at it and growled.

"Take a seat inside," Amos suggested. "The trip might be a little rough."

"I'll stand, thanks." Sadie nodded at the little guy in the back. "Who's your driver?"

Amos acted as if he hadn't heard the question. "Hang on, everyone!" He nodded to the steersman, and the boat lurched forward.

" It always is, not only the first time. But you will soon adjust to it. " I told them.

The feeling was hard to describe. You know that tingle in the pit of your stomach when you're on a roller coaster and it goes into free fall? It was kind of like that, except we weren't falling, and the feeling didn't go away. The boat moved with astounding speed. The lights of the city blurred, then were swallowed in a thick fog. Strange sounds echoed in the dark: slithering and hissing, distant screams, voices whispering in languages I didn't understand.

" Ancient Egyptian. Those languages are only used by gods. " Isis told everyone.

The tingling turned to nausea. The sounds got louder, until I was about to scream myself. Then suddenly the boat slowed. The noises stopped, and the fog dissipated. City lights came back, brighter than before.

Above us loomed a bridge, much taller than any bridge in London. My stomach did a slow roll. To the left, I saw a familiar skyline—the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building.

"Impossible! " Several people muttered at the same time. " How... is that... " Annabeth seemed stunned. I concealed my laugh at their expressions. They looked shocked and confused.

"Impossible," I said. "That's New York."

Greeks nodded.

Sadie looked as green as I felt. She was still cradling Muffin, whose eyes were closed. The cat seemed to be purring. "It can't be," Sadie said. "We only traveled a few minutes."

They again nodded.

And yet here we were, sailing up the East River, right under the Williamsburg Bridge. We glided to a stop next to a small dock on the Brooklyn side of the river. In front of us was an industrial yard filled with piles of scrap metal and old construction equipment. In the center of it all, right at the water's edge, rose a huge factory warehouse heavily painted with graffiti, the windows boarded up.

" That's your mansion? " Piper asked bewildered.

"That is not a mansion," Sadie said. Her powers of perception are really amazing.

" Thanks, Carter. " "It was sarcasm. " " Hey! " Sadie huffed.

"Look again." Amos pointed to the top of the building.

"How...how did you..." My voice failed me.

"Please don't tell me you have a mansion upon a warehouse! " Travis exclaimed.

I wasn't sure why I hadn't seen it before, but now it was obvious: a five-story mansion perched on the roof of the warehouse, like another layer of a cake. "You couldn't build a mansion up there!"

"Long story," Amos said. "But we needed a private location."

"And is this the east shore?" Sadie asked. "You said something about that in London—my grandparents living on the east shore."

Amos smiled. "Yes. Very good, Sadie. In ancient times, the east bank of the Nile was always the side of the living, the side where the sun rises. The dead were buried west of the river. It was considered bad luck, even dangerous, to live there. The tradition is still strong among...our people."

"Our people?" I asked, but Sadie muscled in with another question.

" Egyptians, duh !" Conner stated. Sadie glared at him.

"So you can't live in Manhattan?" she asked.

Amos's brow furrowed as he looked across at the Empire State Building. "Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It's best we stay separate."

" Yes, it is true. Greeks live in Manhatten. " Chiron told us. " So that was what he meant by 'other gods' " Carter mused.

"Other what?" Sadie demanded.

"Nothing." Amos walked past us to the steersman. He plucked off the man's hat and coat—and there was no one underneath.

Again several Greeks had their jaws on the floor. " That. is. so. cool. " Leo exclaimed and begged Carter, "Will you teach me how you did that, please please please..." "Ok ok, I will think about it. We still don't know what will happen if we mix Greek and Egyptian ways of fighting. So it could be dangerous. You know !" Carter said seriously, trying to discourage this idea. " That is an excellent idea! We should have a match. That way we could help each other with our powers as well as combat techniques. " Athena remarked already lost in her thoughts while Carter groaned.

The steersman simply wasn't there. Amos put on his fedora, folded his coat over his arm, then waved toward a metal staircase that wound all the way up the side of the warehouse to the mansion on the roof.

"All ashore," he said. "And welcome to the Twenty-first Nome."

" What the heck is Nome? " Percy asked. Sadie pointed to the book.

"Gnome?" I asked, as we followed him up the stairs. "Like those little runty guys?"

"Heavens, no," Amos said. "I hate gnomes. They smell horrible."

"Your uncle has smelled them? " Thalia asked Sadie bewildered.

"But you said—"

"Nome, n-o-m-e. As in a district, a region. The term is from ancient times, when Egypt was divided into forty-two provinces. Today, the system is a little different. We've gone global. The world is divided into three hundred and sixty nomes. Egypt, of course, is the First. Greater New York is the Twenty-first."

" How come they are global and we are not? " Lacy asked for the first time making people around her jump a little. " Sweety, as much as I love your sentiments, I think you know that we gods are not so virile to have that many kids and send them to different parts of the world, much less all the countries. " Other Greek gods and goddesses tried to stifle their laughter as poor Lacy blushed to the tip of the roots of her hair.

Sadie glanced at me and twirled her finger around her temple.

Several people fought back their giggles.

"No, Sadie," Amos said without looking back. "I'm not crazy. There's much you need to learn."

We reached the top of the stairs. Looking up at the mansion, it was hard to understand what I was seeing. The house was at least fifty feet tall, built of enormous limestone blocks and steel-framed windows. There were hieroglyphs engraved around the windows, and the walls were lit up so the place looked like a cross between a modern museum and an ancient temple. But the weirdest thing was that if I glanced away, the whole building seemed to disappear. I tried it several times just to be sure. If I looked for the mansion from the corner of my eye, it wasn't there. I had to force my eyes to refocus on it, and even that took a lot of willpower.

Annabeth looked dazzled by the description. She turned to Carter with pleading eyes, Percy hid a smile, and said " I wish to see it, please please please... "

Poor Carter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He looked away to notice Athena giving him a bit similar expression except hers had a menacing glare included as if to say Say yes or I will gut you.

Sadie, bless her soul, came to his rescue right then and told them " We will think about the offer but at one cost. " They nodded. " Sure, whatever you ask ?" Sadie, Carter, Zia and Walt hurdled together and discussed for a few minutes. They then broke the group and turned towards the demigods and Greek gods.

"We have three conditions. First, on the visit, you will not harm or behave rudely to any of the initiates." Zia stated. "Don't worry, we will also make sure that they will not harm you. Most of them are harmless pranksters. But still, we don't want to have your wrath on our heads. We already have a lot of load on our heads. " Walt added.

" Secondly, We wish to see your headquarters. I don't think it is this one with all these flashy temples and parks. So if you wish to see ours, then we should also get to see yours. " Sadie demanded.

"Last wish is I want you to re-think about the 'fight' you wanted with us. "

Athena opened her mouth to argue but Carter cut her off, " I know, I may sound a bit incapacitated, but the truth is I don't know anything about you guys. Neither do you, how much you wish to think you do. So my wish is to keep the idea of the friendly match between both the pantheons for some other time. Got it? " He finished.

Athena studied him. At last, she nodded her head and said " As much as I wish to disagree with you, I think you are correct. " Then she looked at Zeus.

" All in favour. " All the gods raised their hands. " Then it is decided we will visit the 21st nome while they will come to camp half blood for a visit. It will be a friendly visit and no one will harm anyone. " Zeus finished.

"I think we should finalize this deal after this chapter. " Hestia suggested. Everyone nodded.

Amos stopped before the entrance, which was the size of a garage door—a dark heavy square of timber with no visible handle or lock. "Carter, after you."

"Um, how do I—"

"How do you think?"

"Using his brain! " Will frowned. "Is he telling you to bang your head on the door? " Carter snorted.

Great, another mystery. I was about to suggest we ram Amos's head against it and see if that worked. Then I looked at the door again, and I had the strangest feeling. I stretched out my arm. Slowly, without touching the door, I raised my hand and the door followed my movement—sliding upward until it disappeared into the ceiling.

"Wow... "

Sadie looked stunned. "How..."

"I don't know," I admitted, a little embarrassed. "Motion sensor, maybe?"

" Could be. " Leo looked excited.

"Interesting." Amos sounded a little troubled. "Not the way I would've done it, but very good. Remarkably good."

"Thanks, I think."

Sadie tried to go inside first, but as soon as she stepped on the threshold, Muffin wailed and almost clawed her way out of Sadie's arms.

Sadie stumbled backward. "What was that about, cat?"

"Your cat has a name, you know! " Bast glared at Sadie.

"Oh, of course," Amos said. "My apologies." He put his hand on the cat's head and said, very formally, "You may enter."

" You give animals so much respect! " Grover cried.

"The cat needs permission?" I asked.

"Special circumstances," Amos said, which wasn't much of an explanation, but he walked inside without saying another word. We followed, and this time Muffin stayed quiet.

"Oh my god..." Sadie's jaw dropped. She craned her neck to look at the ceiling, and I thought the gum might fall out of her mouth.

"Yes," Amos said. "This is the Great Room."

" That is the exact word for it."

I could see why he called it that. The cedar-beamed ceiling was four stories high, held up by carved stone pillars engraved with hieroglyphs. A weird assortment of musical instruments and Ancient Egyptian weapons decorated the walls. Three levels of balconies ringed the room, with rows of doors all looking out on the main area. The fireplace was big enough to park a car in, with a plasma-screen TV above the mantel and massive leather sofas on either side. On the floor was a snakeskin rug, except it was forty feet long and fifteen feet wide—bigger than any snake.

" Other than one. " Carter muttered.

Outside, through glass walls, I could see the terrace that wrapped around the house. It had a swimming pool, a dining area, and a blazing fire pit. And at the far end of the Great Room was a set of double doors marked with the Eye of Horus, and chained with half a dozen padlocks. I wondered what could possibly be behind them.

" Jail? A big cursed place with tons of secrets? " Thalia mused. " A library. " Sadie started making her choke on her breath.

But the real showstopper was the statue in the center of the Great Room. It was thirty feet tall, made of black marble. I could tell it was of an Egyptian god because the figure had a human body and an animal's head—like a stork or a crane, with a long neck and a really long beak.

The god was dressed ancient-style in a kilt, sash, and neck collar. He held a scribe's stylus in one hand, and an open scroll in the other, as if he had just written the hieroglyphs inscribed there: an ankh—the Egyptian looped cross—with a rectangle traced around its top.

"That's it!" Sadie exclaimed. "Per Ankh."

I stared at her in disbelief. "All right, how you can read that?"

"Someone is jealous," Sadie remarked.

"I don't know," she said. "But it's obvious, isn't it? The top one is shaped like the floor plan of a house."

"How did you get that? It's just a box." The thing was, she was right. I recognized the symbol, and it was supposed to be a simplified picture of a house with a doorway, but that wouldn't be obvious to most people, especially people named Sadie. Yet she looked absolutely positive.

" Hey! I take that as an insult."Sadie glared at Carter.

"It's a house," she insisted. "And the bottom picture is the ankh, the symbol for life. Per Ankh—the House of Life."

"Very good, Sadie." Amos looked impressed. "And this is a statue of the only god still allowed in the House of Life—at least, normally. Do you recognize him, Carter?"

Just then it clicked: the bird was an ibis, an Egyptian river bird. "Thoth," I said. "The god of knowledge. He invented writing."

" Yep, that's me! " Throth cheered.

"Indeed," Amos said.

"Why the animal heads?" Sadie asked. "All those Egyptian gods have animal heads. They look so silly."

All the Egyptian gods glared at Sadie while the Greek ones laughed.

"They don't normally appear that way," Amos said. "Not in real life."

"Real life?" I asked. "Come on. You sound like you've met them in person."

" You just met one that night." Zia pointed out.

Amos's expression didn't reassure me. He looked as if he were remembering something unpleasant. "The gods could appear in many forms—usually fully human or fully animal, but occasionally as a hybrid form like this. They are primal forces, you understand, a sort of bridge between humanity and nature. They are depicted with animal heads to show that they exist in two different worlds at once. Do you understand?"

" A little. "Annabeth muttered.

"Not even a little," Sadie said.

"Mmm." Amos didn't sound surprised. "Yes, we have much training to do.

" Not that we did any. " Carter looked amused.

At any rate, the god before you, Thoth, founded the House of Life, for which this mansion is the regional headquarters. Or at least...it used to be. I'm the only member left in the Twenty-first Nome. Or I was, until you two came along."

"Hang on." I had so many questions I could hardly think where to start.

" So do we? " All the demigods shouted.

"What is the House of Life? Why is Thoth the only god allowed here, and why are you—"

"Carter, I understand how you feel." Amos smiled sympathetically. "But these things are better discussed in daylight. You need to get some sleep, and I don't want you to have nightmares."

"You think I can sleep?"

"Mrow." Muffin stretched in Sadie's arms and let loose a huge yawn.

" Leave it to muffin to change the topic. " I laughed.

Amos clapped his hands. "Khufu!"

I thought he'd sneezed, because Khufu is a weird name, but then a little dude about three feet tall with gold fur and a purple shirt came clambering down the stairs.

" A dude with fur? " Grover looked confused.

It took me a second to realize it was a baboon wearing an L.A. Lakers jersey.

The baboon did a flip and landed in front of us. He showed off his fangs and made a sound that was half roar, half belch. His breath smelled like nacho-flavored Doritos.

" Ewwww" Aphrodite sprayed some perfume in the air.

All I could think to say was, "The Lakers are my home team!"

" Yeah, so much of basketball. " Carter muttered.

The baboon slapped his head with both hands and belched again.

"Oh, Khufu likes you," Amos said. "You'll get along famously."

" Amos is a baboon whisperer!" Grover was stunned.

"Right." Sadie looked dazed. "You've got a monkey butler. Why not?"

" That is awesome. I want a monkey butler too. " Travis and Conner exclaimed.

Muffin purred in Sadie's arms as if the baboon didn't bother her at all.

"Agh!" Khufu grunted at me.

Amos chuckled. "He wants to go one-on-one with you, Carter. To, ah, see your game."

" A butler baboon who can also play basketball! Awesome. " Apollo shouted.

I shifted from foot to foot. "Um, yeah. Sure. Maybe tomorrow. But how can you understand—"

"Carter, I'm afraid you'll have a lot to get used to," Amos said. "But if you're going to survive and save your father, you have to get some rest."

"Sorry," Sadie said, "did you say 'survive and save our father'? Could you expand on that?"

"Tomorrow," Amos said. "We'll begin your orientation in the morning. Khufu, show them to their rooms, please."

" Grown-ups," Percy muttered.

"Agh-uhh!" the baboon grunted. He turned and waddled up the stairs. Unfortunately, the Lakers jersey didn't completely cover his multicolored rear.

" Bad mental image, Carter !"

We were about to follow when Amos said, "Carter, the workbag, please. It's best if I lock it in the library."

I hesitated. I'd almost forgotten the bag on my shoulder, but it was all I had left of my father. I didn't even have our luggage because it was still locked up at the British Museum. Honestly, I'd been surprised that the police hadn't taken the workbag too, but none of them seemed to notice it.

"They can't see it. " Julius nodded.

"You'll get it back," Amos promised. "When the time is right."

He asked nicely enough, but something in his eyes told me that I didn't have a choice.

I handed over the bag. Amos took it gingerly, as if it were full of explosives.

" It is " Sadie shrugged.

"See you in the morning." He turned and strode toward the chained-up doors. They unlatched themselves and opened just enough for Amos to slip through without showing us anything on the other side. Then the chains locked again behind him.

I looked at Sadie, unsure what to do. Staying by ourselves in the Great Room with the creepy statue of Thoth didn't seem like much fun, so we followed Khufu up the stairs.

" CREEPY! My statue is not creepy! Thank you very much. " Throth huffed.

Sadie and I got adjoining rooms on the third floor, and I've got to admit, they were way cooler than any place I'd ever stayed before.

I had my own kitchenette, fully stocked with my favorite snacks: ginger ale—[No, Sadie. It's not an old person's soda! Be quiet!]—Twix, and Skittles. It seemed impossible. How did Amos know what I liked? The TV, computer, and stereo system were totally high-tech. The bathroom was stocked with my regular brand of toothpaste, deodorant, everything. The king-size bed was awesome, too, though the pillow was a little strange. Instead of a cloth pillow, it was an ivory headrest like I'd seen in Egyptian tombs. It was decorated with lions and (of course) more hieroglyphs.

" I love the room, other than the pillow. "

The room even had a deck that looked out on New York Harbor, with views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty in the distance, but the sliding glass doors were locked shut somehow. That was my first indication that something was wrong.

" Uuhh, that is suspicious. "

I turned to look for Khufu, but he was gone. The door to my room was shut. I tried to open it, but it was locked.

A muffled voice came from the next room. "Carter?"

"Sadie." I tried the door to her adjoining room, but it was locked too.

"We're prisoners," she said. "Do you think Amos...I mean, can we trust him?"

" I wished then, that I could. But he was acting so suspiciously. And everything was so confusing. I doubted even myself. " Carter confessed.

"Everyone has their share of bad times. When I came to my heritage as a demigod, I was so confused and scared and a bit angry at the gods, especially my father, I almost left the camp to join the enemy lines. But well my fatal flaw, which is loyalty, saved me. That is why, I am here and not dead. " Percy told us.

The other demigods and gods looked astonished and a bit worried for their friend/ hero. " What? Don't look at me like that. It was years ago. I was just 12 and unfamiliar with this world. It was easy to sway me, but well I stayed. and that matters. "

" That is exactly what matters. In the war we fought there were times when we thought that maybe we should surrender. The only thought that made me move forward was that I had people who depends on me. And I couldn't let them down. I couldn't lose them again. " He threw a look at Sadie which no one caught other than Percy and I. "Seems like we have a lot in common, buddy. " Percy beamed at Carter.

I realized one thing. Everyone has their shortcomings. But the ones on the top move over them and look at the bigger picture.

After all I'd seen today, I didn't trust anything, but I could hear the fear in Sadie's voice. It triggered an unfamiliar feeling in me, like I needed to reassure her. The idea seemed ridiculous. Sadie had always seemed so much braver than me—doing what she wanted, never caring about the consequences. I was the one who got scared. But right now, I felt like I needed to play a role I hadn't played in a long, long time: big brother.

" Ever since then, the big brother-protective syndrome began. " Walt sighed. Carter glared at him and Sadie chuckled. It was so satisfying to see my kids being siblings even after all the drama, years ago.

"It'll be okay." I tried to sound confident. "Look, if Amos wanted to hurt us, he could've done it by now. Try to get some sleep."

"Carter?"

"Yeah?"

"It was magic, wasn't it? What happened to Dad at the museum. Amos's boat. This house. All of it's magic."

" Yes, it was, it was. " Zia confirmed.

"I think so."

I could hear her sigh. "Good. At least I'm not going mad."

" If you are. So are we. "

"Don't let the bedbugs bite," I called. And I realized I hadn't said that to Sadie since we had lived together in Los Angeles, when Mom was still alive.

Julius and I winced at the reminder but our kids had a happy smile on their faces.

"I miss Dad," she said. "I hardly ever saw him, I know, but...I miss him."

Julius looked down. I held his hand in my to reassure him what he did was correct.

My eyes got a little teary, but I took a deep breath. I was not going to go all weak. Sadie needed me. Dad needed us.

"We'll find him," I told her. "Pleasant dreams."

I listened, but the only thing I heard was Muffin meowing and scampering around, exploring her new space. At least she didn't seem unhappy.

" Well, at least the cat is happy. " Grover pointed. " You have a really good sense of perspective, Grover," Sadie replied sarcastically. He blushed while Percy and Carter chuckled.

I got ready for bed and crawled in. The covers were comfortable and warm, but the pillow was just too weird. It gave me neck cramps, so I put it on the floor and went to sleep without it.

"That was a huge mistake, Carter. " " But how can you sleep with that thing under your head? " demigods looked confused. "It is given in the next chapter. "

My first big mistake.

"Told ya. " I sang. " And the end of the chapter. Now where we, yes we were discussing the tours to each other's places, yes?" Bast asked. " Firstly, I have some questions? "...

And Today was one of the longest days of my life. Anyways I have some questions for you. First, where do you want our heroes to visit Camp half blood, Camp Jupiter, 21st Nome, The first nome or all four?

Secondly, Do wish to see more of Setne or some other old enemy should enter the story?

Third How did you like Ruby's pov? Want it more or less? Should I do more povs of gods or demigods?

Do you wish to see Amos again or any other character I have not involved ?

I have so many ideas that my head is buzzing with it.

Lastly my all famous words review. And tell me your answers to me. I am waiting for them.