Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I met Amos Kane on a tuesday.

It was a month after my first quest, and I’d sat in the apartment with mom—windows open as the sun beat down on Manhattan. No matter the fact that I had my mom back, the mood of the apartment was still dreary. Luke's betrayal had been another hill to climb on top of the whole summer solstice mess, and no matter my moms insistence that she wouldn’t drag what happened out of me, I could still feel her stares digging into me in the moments of silence between us.

But, the two of us had found odd peace in sitting in the living room of our small apartment. I’d usually take to telling some unremarkable story regarding camp–everything seemed smaller after the quest. Even the apartment felt more cramped, and I was trapped within it as thoughts of the months before rang around my head. When mom was at work, and I was left to relish in an apartment vacant of one Smelly Gabe, I’d usually Iris Message Annabeth, or Grover. Other afternoons were spent at the skate park a few blocks down from our place, or playing board games with mom while a batch of cookies baked in the oven.

It was on one of those unremarkable afternoons that I met Amos. A knock on the apartment door interrupted the game of battleship that I was sorely losing, mom ditching the game to answer the door as I tried to subtly eavesdrop down the small hallway.

“Sally.”

I took the opportunity to peek around the corner of the living room wall, peering down at where my mom had her arms crossed, shoulders hunched up towards her ears. It had been nice living in the apartment without Gabe looming over my every action, and I felt suddenly protective of my home, looking at the stranger down the hall. It was finally actually a home belonging to me , and I didn’t want to give that up.

The man's eyes were hidden by shaded round glasses, and every inch of him screamed rich. From the heavy brimmed fedora pulled low over his eyebrows, to dress shoes and form fitting suit he wore. He looked incredibly out of place in the hallway of my mom and I’s rundown apartment building, stains and yellowing plaster adorning the wall behind him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I visited a month ago.” The strange man said, eyebrows furrowed as my mom and him stared each other down. “Your husband said you ran off, and next thing I hear your kids on national television? Now suddenly you return out of the blue and your husbands just up and left? What’s even going on?”

“Life happened, Amos.” My mom sighed, running a hand through her hair in exasperation and pushing through her curls. 

“If it was something to do with the House–”

“You know it’s not. What are you doing in Manhattan? You aren’t supposed to be here.”

Amos scoffed, his long braids swinging as his shoulders moved with the sound, a smile coming across his face.

“I could say the same about you. Can I not just visit?”

“Not when–ugh…” My mom trailed off, looking behind her as I ducked behind the wall. Based on the sigh that left her lips, she had definitely seen me. But so what? Now I could just eavesdrop unbothered. “Be honest, Amos. You aren’t supposed to visit me. So why?”

“It’s Julius.”

My mom sighed once more, and stepped back so that Amos could fully enter the apartment. “You should come inside.”

She shut the door behind him and walked to the left, leading him into the kitchen. But not before pausing in the threshold and looking back to where I sat behind the wall by the living room.

“Percy, come on.”

I slinked out, watching Amos’s eyebrows raise as he looked between me and my mom. I stuck out a hand, staring definitely at the stranger in my kitchen.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

The man took my hand, grasping it firmly, and I did my best to ignore the jolt that went up my spine. The same odd feeling when a monster appeared, a distinct notion of other.

“This is my cousin, Amos. Amos, this is my son—”

“Perseus, right?”

“Percy.”

Amos nodded, smiling. 

“Of course. And you can call me Uncle Amos if you’d like.”

Silence returned to the apartment, before my mom broke it by looking at me.

“I need to talk to Amos, honey.”

She left it at that, but I could take a hint. I went and sat in my bedroom.

·𖥸·

I saw Amos for the second time on my fifteenth birthday. 

I had already had enough wild things go down on my birthday, with Paul asking if he could propose to my mom, and my dad showing up and deciding he would finally be doing his due diligence in parenting. Convincing Paul that Poseidon had just left via fire escape had been hard enough without every other event that night. I was just happy he’d left before Amos decided to show up.

We’d all been in the middle of losing to Tyson in Monopoly, which I swear he was somehow cheating at, when three sharp raps sounded at the door, and my mom’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“I honestly have no idea who else would show up!” She let out a forced laugh, giving Paul an apologetic look and getting up to answer the door.

Amos stood outside. 

A dark gray suit was matched with a white tie, a black trench coat hanging over the man's broad shoulders. He didn’t seem at all fazed by the gaping look on Paul's face as he just let himself into the apartment as soon as my mom opened the door.

“Percy! Happy birthday.” 

Amos smiled slightly, seemingly oblivious to everyones reactions. As I turned back to my mom, who was still standing open mouthed by the doorway, I saw Amos’s eyes linger on Tyson. Tyson was too busy plotting out his next Monopoly play to notice, but I looked at Amos quizzically. The man’s eyes were narrowed, but the expression was quickly gone. I almost thought he might have been clear sighted, but then again, most people's reaction to a cyclops wouldn’t be a simple once over.

“I gave you my new address for emergencies, Amos.” My mom seethed quietly, as Paul looked between the two like he was watching a tennis match. 

“Does Percy’s birthday not count as an emergency?”

“If that was why you were actually— ugh .” My mom cut herself off, looking over to the three of us sitting around the Monopoly board, Paul and I unabashedly watching the two argue. “I’ll just be a moment. Promise, Percy.”

I nodded, watching her disappear into the kitchen with Amos before I was nudged by Tyson who looked at me with a serious face, a stack of Monopoly money in one large palm.

“Hotel.”

I sighed as I handed one over.

“Who is that?” Paul suddenly spoke, and I wondered if taking another bite of the blue birthday cake would stop my impending headache. 

“My moms cousin. Amos. He just shows up sometimes.”

“Oh.” 

I could relate to Paul’s reaction. I felt the same.

It wasn’t a case where I was upset my mom had secrets. I knew she’d kept plenty over the years to keep me safe. It was just a constant itch at the back of his brain, the wonder of what else lay in wait to change in my life. What other random family members might just decide to pop up one day. Though, if everyone on my mom’s side was as weird as Amos, I wouldn’t mind not having to meet them. 

The Monopoly game continued, Tyson and I having a somewhat heated argument over me taking the rest of my moms properties, and I watched the glances Paul threw at the kitchen. When my mom and Amos emerged ten minutes later, silence came about them.

My mom pursed her lips, whispering something to Amos and giving him a hug before turning towards him. 

“Everything okay?” I asked, looking between the adults. My mom just nodded, and Amos walked up to me. He kneeled down, reaching into the pocket of his trench coat and pulling out a small box, covered in bright blue wrapping paper. 

“Couldn’t leave without giving you a gift, right?” Amos said, holding it out as I took it. “Go ahead, open it.”

I couldn’t tell if the look on my moms face meant she was about to cry or slap Amos across the face, but figured opening the present and getting this over with might prevent either scenario. I pulled the small bow off, ripping the wrapping paper at its seams and opening the small jewelry box inside. A golden necklace sat inside, circular with a small bird engraved on its surface.

I wasn’t sure what to make of my weird uncle-not-uncle uncle getting me jewelry, but I wasn’t about to question it. 

“Thanks.”

“It’s a kite.”

Amos was looking at the symbol on the necklace, and I raised an eyebrow at the man.

“It’s a bird.”

“A kite is a type of bird.” Amos explained, eyes peering over the edge of his sunglasses. “It can symbolize the protection of souls, and guidance toward the afterlife.”

Great. I thought. Even Amos, one of my only normal relatives, was getting a sense of foreboding doom telling him that I was marching on towards my death.

“That’s lovely, Amos.” My mom was standing behind her cousin, eyes locked on the symbol on my new necklace. Eyes darting between it and the man in front of her. Amos stood, patting me on the shoulder and sharing a look with my mom that I was too tired to decipher. 

“Stay safe.” Amos said, and in the next moment, he was gone.

·𖥸·

I met Amos once more in London.

By the time my mom and him got off the plane and drove to meet him in a random suburban neighborhood, I was sure I hated London. It was bleak, cold, and I’d rather be in New York. 

When my mom had suggested traveling to London for Christmas, I thought she may have gone mad. When she said we’d be visiting family (specifically my non -godly relatives) I figured it wasn’t really a suggestion, but a gentle way of telling me, “Sorry honey, London it is.” The fact that Amos was the only relative I could think of really put a damper on the situation. I had been perfectly content never seeing him again.

“Since when do we leave town for Christmas?” I asked quizzically one night, watching my mom pack her suitcase. “And Pauls here this year. We can’t just ditch him.”

“Amos needs help with something. That’s why he visited on your birthday.” His mother explained, looking as if she wanted to say more. “I told Paul this was important. He understands, he’s visiting his parents.”

“Well, he could have just come. ”

My mom ended the conversation after that.

So now I sat in the passenger seat of a rented subaru, my mom having told me to stay in the car while slamming the door behind her and giving me a look that could have frightened Zeus himself. Suffice to say, Christmas break was not going as planned. 

I watched as my mom and Amos fought with another man on the sidewalk a block away, the man bearing a resemblance to Amos.

It appeared as if my mom and Amos were in a standoff with the other man, someone I could only assume to be another cousin or relative of my moms. For my own entertainment, I had rolled my window down slightly, tuning into the conversation as best I could.

“Then it’s a duel you want?” An unfamiliar voice spoke, tone casual, as if suggesting the three of them go to lunch rather than have a fight in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.

“We want you to think.” I heard my mom say, and I could imagine the disappointed look she probably wore on her face. “You can’t take this risk and—”

“There isn’t a risk. Now the two of you are going to leave, or I am going to act.”

“You really want to fight both of us?” Amos asked, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I didn’t like the sound of what it entailed, especially regarding my mom. I didn’t have the chance to know.

“Dad!” A voice exclaimed, and I caught sight of a girl who looked slightly younger than me springing out from behind a tree, pulling the man, apparently her father, into a hug. He stumbled back in surprise, but it didn’t compare to Amos, who tripped backwards over his own trench coat. A boy followed after the girl, sighing bodily and shaking his head. 

Amos for all of this apparently being his fault, said something quiet enough that I couldn’t hear and simply walked off. Quickly straightening his fedora, he lumbered down the road.

For all that I could hope that my mom and I could make a quick escape, that maybe she’d take Amos’s quick departure as a sign that coming to London for Christmas was a fatal mistake, she instead looked to me in the car. Her eyes narrowed as I tried slumping deeper in my seat, waving at her through the windshield as she gestured for me to come over. With a huff, I got out of the car. You’d have thought by this point I wouldn’t be so bothered by meeting new relatives. Hell, my brother was a cyclops who worked for our dad in his under the sea palace. But see, that was my standard of normal now. Average family conflicts haven't been on my agenda lately.

As I walked over to my mom, hands shoved in the pockets of my blue hoodie, a bright smile formed on her face. No matter how genuine it looked, it seemed out of place after the argument that I knew had just taken place.

I stood next to my mom, giving a nod to the other man's two kids. All three appeared tense, the man’s eyes never leaving Amos until he turned the corner of the street and was out of view. The girl had her eyes narrowed at me, loudly chewing her gum and blowing a large bubble that popped even louder in the awkward silence between the five of us. With the streaks in her hair and combat boots, she reminded me a little of Thalia, just less likely to electrocute me at any given moment. Her brother didn’t look much like her at all, and looked all too upset with the way the girl's cat kept attempting to paw at him.

“And I assume you’ll be leaving too?” Their dad said, having relaxed slightly as he looked at my mom and I.

“Oh, it’s Christmas Eve, Julius!” My mom said with a small smile, putting an arm around my shoulder and pulling me in. “Whatever happened to family time? I know you’ve got plans, but I’m sure you wouldn’t mind us tagging along. You’ve yet to meet Percy, and I’d love to get reacquainted with your kids.”

My mom looked over at me, and I gave the two teens in front of him a grin. I chose to ignore punk girls' narrowed eyes as she popped another bubble, loudly smacking on her gum. Sticking out a hand, my eyes darted between the two, wondering which was less likely to take this as some sort of attack.

“It’s Percy. Always fun to meet new family, am I right?”

Based on the silence received from the other end of the conversation, I don’t think my opinion was well received. The girl huffed, turning to her dad and pushing him away from where he’d wrapped an arm around her shoulder. 

“You’re late. Visitation Day’s nearly over! And what was all that about? Who’s Amos, who are these people, and what’s the Per Ankh?”

“Sadie!” Her brother hissed, looking as if he wished he could have shoved the girl's words back in her mouth. Julius stiffened, looking at the two of them, as if wondering how much they’d heard. 

“It’s nothing, sweetheart. This is my cousin, Sally. And as he introduced himself, her son, Percy.” Julius said, sounding forcibly upbeat. He looked to my mom and I then, pursing his lips but apparently unwilling to fight against my moms decidedly stubborn glare. “We’re going on a private tour of the British Museum if you’d like to join.”

My mom smiled, and I could already feel myself sighing at what her answer was going to be.

“We’d love to.”

·𖥸·

Somehow, all of us ended up sitting in my mom and I’s rented subaru. Jingle Bell Rock played quietly from the car speakers as I sat between Sadie and her brother, who had introduced himself as Carter. How I’d been stuck in the middle seat was beyond me, but the car was full of enough tension that I wasn’t about to complain.

“I can’t believe it.” Sadie grumbled beside me. “One evening together, and you want to do research.”

Julius tried for a smile. “Sweetheart, it’ll be fun. The curator of the Egyptian collection personally invited—”

“The Egyptian collection?” My mom suddenly interrupted, a small frown on her face. “I thought you were done with that branch of study.”

“Sally you know it’s my main focus and—”

“It’s your only focus.” Sadie interrupted, blowing a red-streaked strand of hair out of her face and into mine, which I batted away. “Christmas Eve, and we’re going to see some moldy old relics from Egypt. Do you ever think of anything else?”

Julius didn’t seem mad. Not at Sadie, at least. If anything, he kept sending looks at my mom from where he sat in the passenger seat. But he still didn't seem mad. He just stared out the window at the darkening sky and the rain. 

“Yes,” he said quietly. “I do.”

From beside me, Carter looked at his dad with furrowed brows, an opposite to where Sadie was scowling in her seat. He definitely knew their dad better, if the already horrible car ride was anything to go by. As we were once again cast into silence, I nudged Carter beside me.

“Where are you from?” I asked, having noticed his sister's obvious British accent and his lack of one.

“Los Angeles.” Carter replied. “But we travel a lot, so I’m never there.”

“What he’s saying is he’s a nerd. Him and dad are always at museums.” Sadie added bitterly. “You’re from New York, right? You’ve got the accent.”

“Yep, Manhattan. Can attest so far that it is way better than London.” Percy paused, thinking of his last experience in Los Angeles. The Lotus Hotel and Crusty's Water Bed Palace left much to be desired. “And L.A.”

Sadie looked affronted, Carter laughing before Julius suddenly spoke. The car had moved along the river Thames, just past the Waterloo Bridge when he tensed.

“Sally.” He said. “Stop here.”

My mom looked over at him with a concerned expression before pulling over.

“What is it, Dad?” Carter asked. Julius got out of the car as if he hadn’t heard him, my mom quickly taking the key out of the ignition before following him. Sadie, Carter, and I joined the two of them on the sidewalk, staring up at a large stone column with a point at the top. Markings were etched into its sides, and Julius seemed entranced with the structure. 

“God.” Sadie walked around in a frustrated circle. “Do we have to stop for every monument?”

I was inclined to agree with her. Plus, it was freezing outside. I would’ve been happy to get back in the cab, but every instinct in my body was on edge. It was the type of feeling I had when I felt that a monster might have been following me, but instead the unease seemed to linger in the air. Passing between all of us standing before the massive structure.

“I had to see it again,” he murmured. He took a step forward, but my mom put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. “Where it happened…”

“What, Dad?” Carter asked. “What happened?”

“The place I last saw her.”

Sadie stopped pacing. She scowled at Carter uncertainly, then looked back at Julius. “Hang on. Do you mean Mum?”

Carter looked like he was frozen where he stood, and my mom almost looked the same. But where Carter seemed shocked, she seemed…scared. Angry. I understood the reactions to talking about a parent. Their mom was apparently out of the picture, but where she appeared to be a no-no topic, my dad had always just been there. My mom would talk about him when I asked, but eventually I learned she just didn’t want to have to. It hurt. And I understand it, I mean, after you learn your dad’s a God you understand a lot of things, but that made the most sense. That was something I could understand. Looking at Carter and Sadie, I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to be here for whatever this conversation was about to become. 

“You’re telling us she died here.” Carter said. (And first of all, wow. So much trauma to unpack there). “At Cleopatra's Needle? What happened?”

Julius lowered his head.

“Dad!” Sadie exclaimed. “I go past this every day, and you mean to say—all this time—and I didn’t even know? ”

“Julius,” my mom interrupted. “You can’t—”

“Do you still have your cat?” Julius asked Sadie, which seemed like a ridiculous question given the circumstances. 

“Of course I’ve still got the cat!” she said. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“And your Amulet?”

Sadies hand went to her neck, and Carter pulled a necklace out from under his shirt.

“Course I have it, Dad, but don’t change the subject. Gran’s always going on about how you caused Mum’s death. That’s not true is it?”

My mother and I exchanged a look from where we stood on either side of the family of three, watching the tension grow. I raised an eyebrow in a look that I hoped adequately got across the message, what type of family drama did you drag us into?

My moms look back essentially said, not the time.

“The night your mother died,” Julius started, “here at the Needle—”

A sudden flash illuminated the whole embankment. I turned and momentarily saw two figures appearing down the sidewalk, side by side. A tall pale man with a forked beard wore cream colored-robes, a darker skinned girl in dark blue robes and a headscarf beside him. The clothes looked familiar, and I was sure if Annabeth was here she would have been able to tell me what they were, along with giving me a brief history lesson. They were just there, not even twenty feet away, watching us. The light faded, the figures melting into an afterimage. As if they’d never been there.

A chill ran up my spine. The people certainly didn’t appear to be demigods, but they didn’t exude that raw, undercurrent of power held by deities. But something was off. Things like that just didn’t happen in the mortal world. I hated the feeling of uncharted territory, and my uneasiness grew even more when Sadie spoke beside me.

“Um…” She said nervously. “Did all of you just see that?”

“Get in the car.” Julius said, pushing Carter and Sadie towards the car. “We’re out of time.”

My mom walked quickly before pushing him away from his kids, the two of them left standing in between me and the car. 

“You’re not doing this, Julius. Not tonight, not ever. This should have ended when Ruby passed.”

“You can’t say that as if you understand.”

“I went to the funeral, Julius. I have been there even when I shouldn’t have been.” My mom scoffed, looking back at the three of us. Carter and Sadie sent me quizzical looks, but I shrugged at both of them. I was just as out of the loop. “Amos and I came here because we care. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but is it so important that you’d risk what you already have?”

Julius seemed to hesitate at that, before shaking his head and glancing behind himself. “This isn’t a place to talk. We need to leave.”

“I’m not taking you to the museum.”

“Then the kids and I will get a cab. And I’ll do it alone.”

My mom pursed her lips before huffing and turning away from her cousin. “Fine. Everyone in the car.”

I grabbed her arm as she passed by me, forcing her to look back at me. She didn’t look like she wanted to get in the car, and I would have preferred to jump in the Thames and test my luck with the pollution and whatever angry naiads lived there than head to the museum Julius was set on seeing.

“What’s going on?” I hissed, glancing to where my weird extended family was getting into the car, Sadie appearing to once again interrogate her father.

“I promise I’ll explain later, but—this is one of those moments, honey. Where you do the right thing even when you don’t want to. I just need you to trust me.”

“I trust you, mom. Of course I do.”

“Good, and I promise, Percy. I’ll explain everything. I promise.”

With that, she opened the driver's side door and started the car. I opened the back door, and for the first positive event of my night, the side seat wasn’t occupied by Sadie. Life was looking up.

“...bloke, Amos,” Sadie was saying as I sat down. “Are they Egyptian police or something?”

“Look,” Julius said as my mom drove, “I’m going to need your help tonight. I know it’s hard, but you have to be patient. I’ll explain everything, I promise, after we get to the museum. I’m going to make everything right again.”

“What do you mean?” Sadie insisted. “Make what right?”

Julius’s expression was beyond sad. He looked guilty. And his short speech felt oddly similar to the one my mom had given me, which felt all too similar to the one I’d received before being involved in a car chase with the minotaur at the ripe young age of twelve. All and all, I could already feel it was all about to go to Hades.

My mom swerved the car onto Great Russell Street and screeched to a halt in front of the museum's main gates, parking just a little away on the side of the street. 

“Just follow my lead,” Julius told all of us. “When we meet the curator, act normal.”

If anything, based on his actions tonight, that was something Julius needed to be focusing on, not the rest of us. I decided that was an inside thought. Julius reached for the door handle, pushing the door only for it not to budge. My mom’s finger rested on the button to unlock the car.

“Don’t make me do something I regret, Julius.”

Her cousin stared at her blankly. “Never.”

My mom unlocked the car. We all climbed out, Sadie loudly whispering to Carter an annoyed, ‘Regret what?!’ as we marched towards the wrought iron gates after their father. As Julius continued on, my mom paused and looked back at all of us, pursing her lips and giving us her patented concerned mom look.

“Are you sure you don’t just want to stay in the car?”

“I’m not sure…” Carter trailed off, looking after his father before Sadie shoulder checked him and walked by.

“Stay out here in the cold if you want, but I’m not leaving without an explanation.” 

Carter shrugged, following after her as she marched after their dad. My mom turned to me.

“Keep Riptide away, Percy.”

“Keep Riptide— what? Mom, what are we doing—”

“Pantheons don’t mix. Or, they shouldn’t. Remember that.”

In retrospect, I should have stayed out of the museum. Maybe I could have gone for a stroll and bought some ice cream, relaxed in the car and let my mom sort out her family drama. But something told me whatever waited for me inside that museum was going to find me eventually. That was one thing I’d figured out being a demigod. Life always found a way of showing up at your doorstep. So, despite the chill running up my spine, the sick feeling in my stomach, I watched my mother walk inside. And I followed her through the gates.

Chapter Text

I can tell you from personal experience that sticking a kid with ADHD in a museum and expecting them to have the time of their life is a recipe for disaster. My last museum visit had involved my algebra teacher trying to kill me, and while this wasn’t any worse, the experience didn’t seem to be shaping up to be anything much better.

The curator of the museum was waiting for us on its steps, two guards on either side of him. A large grin split his face, displaying his not-so pearly whites. 

“Dr. Kane!” He exclaimed, shaking Julius’s hand with such fervor I thought it might fall off. Julius could have been a celebrity for all the man was shaking with excitement, and in the magnificent world of Egyptian history, maybe he was. “Your last paper on Imhotep—brilliant! I don’t know how you translated those spells!”

“Im-ho-who?” Sadie muttered to me, as if I was somehow all knowing in the realm of ancient Egypt. I looked at Carter, who out of the two of the siblings seemed more well versed in whatever the curator was going on about.

“What she said.” I muttered to him.

“Imhotep,” Carter replied. “High priest, architect. Some say he was a magician. Designed the first pyramid. You know.”

“You sound like Annabeth.” I blurted.

“Whose that?” Sadie asked, voice quiet under the conversation between Julius, the curator, and now my mom.

“My friend. She’s crazy smart, it feels like she knows literally everything. But she’s really good at explaining things—”

“So Carter, if he wasn’t a know-it-all.”

Carter looked affronted, and standing between the two of them I wasn’t sure if there was any side better to take. “I guess?”

I thankfully didn’t have to plead my case as Julius interrupted our conversation, placing a hand on Carter's shoulder.

“Dr. Martin, I’d like you to meet Carter and Sadie.” He looked at me, awkwardly standing between his kids. “And Sally’s son, Percy.”

“Of course! It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Pleasure to have you here, really, Dr. Kane, we’re incredibly honored.”

Did everyone suck up to Julius like this? Was he the man to know in the world of museum curators? It seemed like it, and as we followed the curator into the Great Court, the guards remaining outside, he and Julius only got more buddy-buddy. My mom trailed slightly behind them, arms crossed and lips pursed, her demeanor becoming even more closed off as we turned into the Egyptian wing.

“So,” Julius asked, “the stone.”

“Yes, of course!” The curator led us forward, ignoring the massive statues lining the walls and instead going to a small stone slab placed in the center of the room. “Though I can’t imagine what information you may glean from it, as it has been studied to death of course, but we’re brought out the real one. Typically we keep out a replica, but for you—this is quite real.”

Our small group was gathered in front of a dark gray slab of rock, about three feet tall and two feet wide. It was encased in a glass box and stood on a large pedestal, the flat surface of it facing us having writing chiseled into it. The top appeared to be what I thought were hieroglyphics, but it was the bottom that caught my eye. The familiar letters of Ancient Greek stared back at me, taking up the bottom third of the rock.

“The Rosetta Stone.” Carter said.

“Isn’t that a computer program?” Sadie asked.

Carter looked like he wanted to strangle his sister at that moment. Possibly he was morbidly embarrassed, but I couldn’t blame her. It sounded like it could have been a computer program. I would have believed her at least.

“Young Lady, the Rosetta Stone was the key to discovering hieroglyphics! It was discovered by—” The curator interrupted with a nervous laugh.

“Oh, I remember now.” Sadie said. She clearly didn’t.

I walked closer to get a better look at the writing, Julius next me. I was mainly considering all the ways Annabeth would flip when I told her I looked at the real Rosetta Stone and got to read its original Greek. Cool, right? If I wasn’t sure the Curator might have shot me on sight, I would have taken a picture. 

“Ptolemy the fifth…” I muttered quietly as I skimmed the stone, ignoring Carter's long winding rant on the importance of the stone to Sadie. 

“Young man!” I jumped, the curator suddenly beside me, eyes wide. “Do you speak Greek?”

“Me?” I asked, as if he were asking anyone else with the ways his beady eyes were staring me down. My mom and our odd extended family all were looking at the two of us, even Julius having stopped his manic studying of the stupid rock. “I, uh…nope.”

“Well you were just—”

“Was I?”

“Dude.” Sadie interjected. “You’ve been standing over there staring at the stone and muttering nonsense for like a minute.”

I figured I’d been muttering in english. My mistake. “Oh, well, I take it as an elective!” I exclaimed, scrambling for a lie. I wasn’t sure how well, ‘My dad’s a Greek God and the language is kinda just inherited’ would go down with this crowd. 

“That’s wonderful!” The curator grinned, walking over to Julius quickly. “Dr. Kane, your family is really something extraordinary. It’s great to see young people have an interest in the classics.”

“Yep. That’s me. Ancient cultures are really my passion.”

I’m not sure I was too convincing, as the silence between all of us grew awkward. Only the curator seemed genuinely excited. Sadie was staring at me in what looked to be disappointment, and Carter had his eyes narrowed in what could have been disbelief or suspicion. Probably both. 

“Dr. Martin.” Julius said, saving me. “Is it possible I could have the glass removed? And if you could bring me the papers I asked for from your archives.”

Dr. Martin nodded. He pressed a small code into a remote control he pulled from his pocket, and the front of the glass box clicked open.

“It will take a few minutes to retrieve the notes.” He said. “For anyone else, I would hesitate to grant unguarded access to the stone. But I trust you’ll be careful.”

He glanced at us kids like we were trouble makers, but for the first time in my life the look didn’t seem directed at me as he smiled and tacked on one extra note. “And maybe Percy here can do some translating! How exciting!”

As soon as Dr. Martin’s steps receded, Julius turned to all of us with a frantic look in his eyes. “Children, this is very important. You have to stay out of this room.”

He slipped his workbag off his shoulder enough to pull out a bike chain and a padlock, pushing them into Carter's hands. Carter took them with wide eyes, and my mom made some indiscernible sound of protest.

“Follow Dr. Martin. You’ll find his office to the left of the Great Court. There’s only one entrance. Once he’s inside, wrap this around the door handles and lock it tight. We need to delay him.”

“Julius!” My mom exclaimed, walking up to him. 

“You want us to lock him in? Brilliant!” Sadie was suddenly interested, grabbing the chain and padlock from Carter who was still standing shell shocked. He looked like how I felt. Which was like his dad had actually gone mental. 

“Dad,” he said, “what’s going on?”

“We don’t have time for explanations.” Julius said. “This will be our only chance. They’re coming.”

“Who?” I asked.

Julius ignored me, pulling his kids in towards him by the shoulders. “I’m sorry, for many things, but there's no time now. If this works, I promise I’ll make everything better. Carter, you’re my brave man. You have to trust me. Remember, lock up Dr. Martin. Then stay out of this room!”

He moved to push all of us towards the doors, but my mom caught my wrist before I could follow Carter and Sadie. She pulled me to the side, eyeing Julius with nervous eyes as he dug through his workbag.

“I owe you an explanation, honey.”

“Hell yeah you do!” I whispered, taking a look back at my crazy relative. “I swear I thought your side of the family was normal, or at least mortals , but weird things keep happening and I’m pretty sure your cousin over there is an actual criminal —”

“There’s more to this world than the Greek Gods.”

I looked at my mom like she’d just grown another head. “What now?”

“The ancient civilizations of the world all manifested divinity in their own ways. Before I met your father, I was a magician, and a—"

“You’re screwing with me.”

“I’m not, Percy.”

My mom looked deadly serious in front of me, and for all the world I wished she was joking. That someone would pop out of the doors to the room we were in and yell, ‘You’ve been pranked!’ 

“And you deserve a better explanation, and you’ll get one, I promise. I just need you to listen to me. Julius wants to mess with the Gods, something you and I know never goes well, right? I don’t care if you lock Dr. Martin in his office, just keep Carter and Sadie out of here, okay? Stall. I need to deal with Julius.”

“Mom, I’m not just going to leave you—”

“I can handle myself. I know this doesn’t make sense right now, but trust me. Just trust me when I say this will work out.” She reached forward and grabbed my hand, pressing something into it. Opening my palm, I looked at the necklace Amos had gotten me for my birthday that summer.

“Where’d you find that? I’ve been looking for it—”

“No you haven’t. You put it in the junk drawer in the kitchen. And that’s fine.” My mom interjected. “Just wear it, will you? It’s important.”

Even with the way everything told me to not leave, to stay with my mom and protect her from whatever odd thing was coming, I knew one thing. I did trust my mom. Above anything. And so what if Egyptian Gods were real? New God to deal with? That was my average afternoon. As soon as I’d tucked the necklace under my shirt, I ran out the doors. 

·𖥸·

I found Sadie and Carter attaching the padlock to the door of the curator's office, the two squabbling as Carter argued the ethics of the situation and Sadie threatened to hit him with the lock.

“What are you running for?” Carter said as I approached, coming to a stop. 

Sadie also turned from where she’d finished attaching the padlock, arms crossed as she looked me over.

“Yeah, Mr. I speak Greek. And I thought Carter was a nerd. What’s up with that?”

“I’m not a nerd—”

“Me speaking Greek is hardly an issue. Why the hell are we actually locking that guy in there.”

Sadie just shrugged, as if imprisoning a man in his office as her average Tuesday night. Carter just sighed, shaking his head.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Why are you asking me?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Your Dad’s the one acting like a complete maniac. Is he always like this?”

“Yeah, Carter.” Sadie turned her gaze from me, locking eyes with her brother. “What’s up with Dad?”

“I don’t know. He’s been acting weird lately, but I thought it was just about mom. He keeps her picture…”

Carter trailed off, and Sadie didn’t push. She nodded like she understood, and the two shared a look before both of their eyes were caught by something behind me. Back the way we’d come a blue light streamed from the Egyptian gallery, as if my mom and Julius had gone and installed a huge glowing aquarium. 

“That’s not normal.” Sadie stated.

“Yeah it’s not normal!” Carter hissed, before Sadie whipped around to face him.

“What’s in his workbag?” She asked. “He’s always weird about that.”

“I don’t know, he told me to never look.”

“Dude,” I interrupted, “That’s practically an invitation to look.”

“He’s so right. Carter, you’re absolutely hopeless. Percy, we’re on the same wavelength right now.”

Carter opened his mouth, probably to defend himself, when a tremor shook the floor. All three of us turned back toward the light streaming from the gallery as a scream was heard, Sadies face turning pale. Startled, Sadie grabbed onto Carter's arm.

“Dad told us to stay put. I suppose you’re gonna follow that order too?”

Carter looked plenty happy to follow that order, but Sadie moved to run down the hall. I jumped in front of her, blocking their way down the hall. If my mom was telling the truth, and Julius was getting himself involved with some ancient Egyptian deity, over here was much safer than in that room. 

“We need to stay here.”

“Why would I listen to you?” Sadie said with a raised eyebrow, trying to move past me as I pushed her back. 

“I don’t know? Because I’m older than you and trying to make sure you don’t die?”

“Somethings wrong.” She stated, looking at Carter before glaring at me. “And I don’t care what you want to do. I want answers.”

With that, she shoved Carter into me, sprinting down the hall. Pushing Carter away from me, I sprinted after her, Carter whining a ‘ wait for me’ as his footsteps pounded behind me as another tremor shook the building.

When we reached the entrance of the Egyptian gallery, Sadie had stopped dead in her tracks. Carter and I stopped abruptly behind her, as I looked in at the sight within the gallery. Julius stood in front of the Rosetta Stone with his back to us, a blue circle glowing on the floor around him. My mother stood to the side, brandishing what looked to be a curved piece of some type of white material. 

Julius had his overcoat thrown off, workbag open on the floor, revealing a wooden box about two feet long. Images were painted across it, similar to those seen on the statues within the exhibit.

“What’s your mom holding?” Sadie whispered to me. “A boomerang? Dad has one too.”

Sure enough, her dad then raised his hand, also holding a curved white sick. Instead of throwing it like a true boomerang, he touched it to the Rosetta Stone. Sadies breath caught. Julius was writing on the stone, everytime the boomerang thing made contact, glowing blue lines appeared on the stone.

From the corner of my eye, I watched as my mom raised her hands, boomerang pointed ahead. 

“ Ha-di! ” She yelled, and the blue circle around Julius flared brighter, the light from the ground seeming to stretch into the ceiling. The ground tremored.

“Julius!” My mom lowered her arm, while Julius etched out a symbol onto the granite. “Don’t do this! You can’t.”

“Your magic is weaker than before, Sally. You’re not stopping this.” My mom let out some sort of animalistic growl, and I watched as Julius continued to somehow write glowing words with his stick. Based on what my mom had just done, it was practically a wand out of Harry Potter. Julius finished his symbol, and ram’s horns sat above a box and an X.

“ Open. ” Sadie murmured. I stared at her, because to me it seemed that she’d just translated whatever Julius had just written. Was that some sort of Egyptian demigod thing? Being hardwired for hieroglyphics just like Greek demigods could read Ancient Greek? Were Egyptian demigods even a thing? Julius raised his arms. He chanted: “Wo-seer, i-ei.” And two more hieroglyphic symbols burned blue against the Rosetta Stones surface.

As much as I’d seen strange things happen, watching Carter and Sadie's dad, and my mom , basically pull out magic wands and act like wizards was a bit much. Whatever odd thing was possessing Carter and Sadie beside me was a whole other issue, as Carter also began muttering the english translation of the hieroglyphs their dad was creating.

“Osiris, come,” Sadie whispered, voice trancelike before her eyes widened. “No!” She shouted. “Dad, no!”

Julius turned in surprise, my mom also spinning to face us, her face draining of all color. 

“Children—” Julius started, but it was far too late. 

“N’dah!” My mom screamed as the ground rumbled. The blue light turned searing white, and as I dived sideways to push Carter and Sadie to the floor, the Rosetta Stone exploded.

·𖥸·

Regaining consciousness, the only two thoughts running through my mind were that I felt like I’d been run over by a chariot, and what the fuck. Gleeful laughter rang through the air as I sat up and spit a piece of the Rosetta Stone out of my mouth, looking around at the ruined gallery. Fire rippled along the floor, statues and sarcophagi knocked to the ground and shattered. The Rosetta Stone had exploded with such force that pieces of it were embedded in the walls and floor of the exhibit.

Carter and Sadie were both beside me, still unconscious. Where the Rosetta Stone had once stood was a smoking pedestal. The floor looked like someone had taken a blowtorch to it, blackened and smoldered aside from the glowing blue circle around Julius and where my mom stood, seemingly unscathed aside from a cut on her forehead. 

Julius held out his boomerang in front of him, to the figure standing between him and the three of us. It looked like someone made out of fire, their form flickering in and out between the flames and smoke in the room. He loomed over both Julius and my mom, and his maniacal laughter cut through the room. He reminded me of the Gods I’d met, the power that radiated off him. From what my mom had told me earlier, I could assume he was one.

“Well done!” He said to Julius. “Very well done, Julius.”

Carter and Sadie still remained unconscious beside me, though Carter let out a low groan. Turning towards him, I shook him by the shoulders. His eyes opened groggily, as he looked around.

“What's going—”

“Shhh.” I whispered. “We have to move Sadie, alright?” 

Carter still looked like he had woken up from a midday nap, but shook himself awake. As soon as he was coherent enough to take in the room, his face paled.

“What the fuck .”

“You were not summoned!” Julius yelled, voice trembling. He held up his wand, but with a flick of the Gods finger, the stick flew for his hand and shattered against the wall.

“Return to the Duat!” My mom yelled, brandishing her wand. “We will not warn you again.” 

The God laughed, the flames of his form rising higher toward the ceiling. “You think you can do anything against me? Sally, do your dear cousin a favor and stand down.”

“ Tas! ” My mom yelled, and just as soon as a rope somehow started to spring from her wand, the God flicked his hand and in a burst of fire the rope went up in flames, my moms wand flying across the room. The fiery form shrunk slightly, and a large sigh was heard, as if my mom was a fly this guy needed to swat away so he could go about his day. A minor inconvenience.

“You both know I’m never summoned. But still, when you open a door you must be prepared for guests to walk through.”

“Back to the Duat!” Julius roared. “I have the power of the Great King!”

“Oh, so scary. Sally, get a load of this guy.” The fiery man, possible God, said in amusement. “Must be so shameful to be related to him. Julius, even if you knew how to use that power, which I will remind you, you do not, he wasn’t my match. And now you will share his fate.”

Beside me Carter's eyes went wide as he inched forward. I pulled him back with a hand on his shoulder, shaking my head. No matter how much I wanted to help, no matter how much I knew I could, I had other things to worry about. Carter and Sadie couldn’t defend themselves. I would have to. My mom caught my line of sight from across the room, shooting me a look of warning. Julius and my mom were doing their best to keep the man's attention while we could take our chance to get out. 

Sadie was still somewhat unconscious, and I put my hands under her armpits to pull her with us as Carter and I moved. The three of us hid behind a column that hadn’t been fully destroyed by the explosion of the Rosetta Stone. At her groans of protest, and her eyes opening, Carter slapped a hand over her mouth. As soon as she saw what was going on, she stopped fighting. 

The alarms blared, fire still circling the doors of the gallery. My powers buzzed under my skin, and I itched to pull on the water running through the pipes in the museum. Instead, I watched Julius crouch to the floor, opening a small painted wooden box. He pulled out a small wooden rod that suddenly extended into a wooden staff as tall as he was. 

Sadie squealed. Carter gasped, and braced himself on my shoulder with one hand as if I knew any better that the hell was going on. 

Julius threw the staff, and it changed into a giant serpent, at least ten feet long and as wide as I was, its eyes glowing a deep red. It looked a bit like Hermes’ snake, George, if George was ginormous and ate kids instead of multivitamins. It lunged at the fiery man, who simply grabbed the serpent by the neck. His hand burst into flame, burning the serpent to ashes in a second.

“An amateur trick,” he chided.

I looked over to my odd cousins, both looking like they’d seen a ghost. Realistically, this was probably much more shocking. 

“We have to get out of here.” I whispered, tilting my head back towards the door. 

“And leave my dad?” Carter hissed. “Not happening.”

Sadie nodded her head beside him, still looking over at her father. 

“Your dad and my mom can clearly handle whatever's going on. We, on the other hand, can not,” I stated. Quickly, I grabbed each of their arms and pulled them with me as I crawled towards the door. Thankfully, they followed, the three of us moving slowly around the edge of the room towards the flame covered doors. That would be a problem for later.

“How many?” Julius asked quickly, keeping the man's attention as we moved. “How many did we release?”

“We?” My mom said in disbelief before the fiery man kept talking.

“Why, all five,” he said, as if talking to a five year old. I would have preferred he explained it better. I was still lost. “You both know we’re a package deal, especially you, Julius. Soon enough even more shall be released, and I will be named king again.”

“The Demon Days.” My mom practically whispered, a look of disbelief on her face. 

“They’ll stop you.” Julius said. “You will never be king.”

The fiery man's maniacal laughter rang through the room once more. “You think the House can stop me? Those fools can’t even stop arguing amongst themselves. Let's make one thing clear, Julius. You shall never rise again.”

The fiery man waved his hand. The blue circles at Julius and my moms feet went dark. Julius went to grab for the toolbox he’d pulled his staff from, but it skittered across the floor as my mom moved to dash behind a column. As she ran, the God, his flame covered figure growing, flicked his hand and she was pushed through the air, slamming against the wall of the exhibit. Carter gasped beside me, and I resisted the urge to run and check on her, her body lying still on the floor.

“Goodbye, Osiris,” the God said. With one last flick of his hand, a glowing coffin was conjured around Julius. It was transparent at first, but the more he struggled and pounded against its sides, it suddenly became solid gold. Before the gold encased all of it, Julius looked at us one last time, mouthing the word Run! before the coffin sank into the floor.

“We have to go, we have to go, come on.” I hissed, grabbing Carter and Sadie and dashing for the doors. Sadie broke my grasp.

“Dad!” She yelled, throwing what looked like a stone at the God. It sailed through him harmlessly.

He turned, and momentarily, a face appeared in the flames. It was as if two faces were overlaid on top of eachother. One terribly human, and the other reminiscent of the monsters I’d fought over the years. Animal like, red eyes blazing and sharp fangs jutting out of its mouth. I stepped in front of Sadie and Carter, feeling the pull of my powers as I heard heavy steps echo on the marble floors behind us. The police, or security guards, or really whoever was coming, wouldn’t be any help here.

The God lunged. The sprinklers turned on. He hissed, and paused a few inches from where we all stood, as if something shoved him backward. The air seemed to crackle with electricity, and the necklace around my neck burned where it sat against my skin. 

The God narrowed his eyes, looking at the water coming down around us and then at me. “Interesting. Now, step out of the way, boy.” 

“You’re not touching them.” I glared, itching to grab Riptide from where it sat in my pocket. I’d fought Gods before. Sure, they were Greek, but I wasn’t going to let anything else bad happen in this hellscape of a museum.

The God just shook his head, before turning and regarding Carter carefully. “And you. ”

The building shook again, and at the opposite side of the room, part of the wall exploded in a glowing light. Two people walked through the hole, and I recognized them immediately. The man and the girl who’d appeared at the Needle, their robes swirling at their feet. 

The God snarled, looking at me one last time before turning his gaze to Carter. “Soon, boy.”

The sprinklers did nothing as the entire room burst into flames. A blast of heat stole the air from my lungs, and I crumpled to the floor. As much as I tried to regain consciousness, to look over at mom on the other side of the room, my head was spinning. As soon as my eyes closed, I was out.

Chapter Text

A police station is the last place you want to be after receiving the most killer headache of your life and watching your weird relative get possibly killed by an angry God. Unfortunately, you don’t exactly have a choice when you end up in that situation. After I woke up from the explosion, the first thing I registered was the sheer amount of police dashing around the room. But really there wasn’t much to register. Aside from that, the Rosetta Stone was scattered across the floor, my maybe-uncle had been swallowed by the earth, and Sadie looked like she was ready to fist fight any of the officers currently present. 

The biggest thing I was thankful for was the fact that my mom was seemingly unharmed, aside from the few scrapes she’d had from before I got knocked out. Unfortunately, I didn’t exactly get the chance to say anything to her. Instead, I was trundled into the back of a police car, and then sat in what looked like an interrogation room at the police station. 

As much as I’ve had experience with fighting monsters and dealing with the odd personal justice systems all immortals seemed to run on, I wasn’t really used to the actual criminal justice system. Sure, there were all the cops that had showed up on my first quest, but sitting in a holding cell and trying to brainstorm how I was going to explain a mythological occurrence to the cops without seeming like an absolute nutjob? Not really my forte.

Sitting in that stupid room was hell. If I ended up in the fields of punishment, Hades could just stick me in a holding cell and call it good. There was nothing to do aside from worry about my mom, Carter and Sadie, and question if Annabeth would believe me if I told her another pantheon existed. I still wasn’t a hundred percent sold on the idea. 

It was during my personally scheduled time to pace back and forth that the door to the room opened, and a woman wearing a suit walked into the room, hair in a bun so tight that it had to be giving her some sort of headache.

“Mr. Jackson.” She said, and gestured to the table in the middle of the room. “Care to take a seat?”

Even with how antsy I felt, I wasn’t sure ‘no’ was an inappropriate answer. I sat down.

“I’m Inspector Walker. I’m here to ask you a few questions about the events that occurred last night.”

“Where’s my mom?”

“My associate is talking to her.” Walker said with a small smile. “You’ll see her when we’re done. This is just procedural, really. So we can see both of your sides of what happened. I can have her come in here quickly, if you’d like?”

I shook my head. As long as she was fine, I wasn’t worried about having to talk to the police. No matter what Carter and Sadie ended up telling them, I doubted anything they said would imply that I was also part of whatever their dad had been doing at the museum last night. If anything, they were more involved, what with Sadie smiling so wide at the prospect of locking up the curator that you would have thought someone told her she was going on a trip to Disneyland. 

“No, no, it’s okay.” I said. “I just wanted to make sure my mom was alright.”

“Alright then. Let's get started. Could you explain to me your relation to Julius Kane?”

“He’s my moms cousin. I think.”

Walker raised an eyebrow. “You think?”

“I met him today. You know how it is, extended family and all that.”

Walker pursed her lips, apparently not too happy with my answer. It wasn’t like I was lying. I’d have bet anything that I was more annoyed by my odd extended family than she was.

“Right. I’d appreciate it if you could tell me everything, please.” Walker continued. “From the moment you arrived here in London.”

“Yeah.” I said, arms crossed as I leaned back in my chair. Rather than telling Walker what had happened I was really more interested in finding my mom again and asking her what the hell had happened last night. “I already explained all that to the police at the museum.”

“I’ll put it this way, Mr. Jackson.” The officer flipped open the file on the table between us, leafing through it as she leaned back in her chair. “Last night, a national monument was destroyed by Julius Kane, a man you claim to have never met, who killed himself in the process. And you seem to have a criminal record… involved in an active gunfight, derailment of train…possible involvement in domestic terrorism following destruction of St. Louis Arch… you can see why this paints you in a negative light.”

“Are you saying I’m some sort of terrorist? See, that wasn’t my fault. I was cleared of all charges.” I interjected, leaning in. “There was a whole kidnapping that happened, if you’d actually just read the rest of tha–”

“Listen.” Inspector Walker tossed the file onto the table, looking at me with her arms crossed and an exasperated look in her eyes. “Do I think a fifteen year old assisted in a terrorist act? No. But do I have many other options as of right now? Also no. We just want the full story. And really, none of you that I’ve talked to seem to have the same one. So I’d like to hear it one more time. If you would.”

See, this is where issues tend to happen. I’ve experienced my fair share of mythological bullshit impacting my actual life. Getting kicked out of school, being accused of certain crimes when in reality the property damage was really the result of the Chimera. And I know for a fact that Julius isn’t a terrorist. Sure, he doesn’t seem like a great guy considering he angered a bloodthirsty God with his two kids right in the firing zone, but he wasn’t a terrorist. But I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well for me if I decided to argue otherwise.

“I only met Julius last night. My mom and I flew up here for Christmas.”

“Do you have any idea why you all went to the museum?”

“Julius was meeting with the curator. I wasn’t really paying much attention. Museums aren’t my thing, ya know? Kinda boring.” I shrugged, and Walker raised an eyebrow, the look she gave me basically saying, get a move on. “But we had come up here to see him, and I don’t think mom realized that was his really fun plan for Christmas Eve. So we ended up tagging along.”

“So Julius meets with the curator…you go to the exhibit, and then what.”

“The curator brought out the Rosetta Stone for Julius to look at. And then Julius he…uh–”

This was the moment where I had to decide how much of the truth I was spilling. Admitting to Julius telling all of us to go imprison the curator certainly didn’t paint him in a great light, but I could only assume Carter and Sadie were gonna tell the truth. It’s not like they had any idea that their dad was actually just a mythological maniac. 

“He made us lock the curator in his office.”

“And that didn’t seem weird to you.”

“Okay, I didn’t say that . Of course it was weird, but my mom told me to get out of there. She seemed…scared. So I followed Carter and Sadie.”

“So you didn’t understand what he was about to do. And your mother…encouraged you? She didn’t argue with Julius?”

“She didn’t, like, encourage me. She just wanted me out of there, like I said, she was nervous—”

“But why? Why be nervous if the two of you had no idea what was going on. Do you really think there’s no possibility your mother was involved?”

“What!?” I sprung out of my chair at that moment, the cold metal screeching across the floor as I moved back. Walker didn’t even flinch at the action, her impassive gaze following me as I moved away from the table, away from her. “No, no. My mom would never do something like that. Are you crazy? ”

“I’d appreciate it if you'd take a seat, Perseus.”

“It's Percy.”

“Percy.” Walker amended. “I’m not accusing your mother of anything. I’m just trying to understand what’s going on.”

“What’s going on is that my mom is a good person. And she didn’t have anything to do with this. Julius is the one who went and–and, blew up the museum. Okay? My mom bakes cookies for our neighbors, she makes sure the kids in our apartment wear helmets while riding their bikes, she isn’t, she—she’s not a terrorist .”

Walker stared at me, mouth slightly agape at my outburst. But really, it didn’t matter. Nothing I could say about Julius mattered now. Walker's words from just a few minutes earlier rang in my head.

‘Who killed himself in the process.’

Julius was dead. Or, at the very least, dead in the mortal sense of the word. Who knew if he was still kicking it in the Egyptian underworld after his dramatic exit in that coffin. So long as my mom wasn’t implicated in whatever was going on here, I would be perfectly happy. It didn’t help that we were in a foreign country, and the one time we decided to visit our so-called family one of them thought it’d be fun to blow up a priceless artifact. Walker hummed, and in the tension hanging in the silence between us, a knock sounded on the door. Walker eyed me before turning over her shoulder, the door opening enough for a man to appear in the doorway. 

“Williams just finished. Apparently they weren’t too cooperative.”

Walker sighed, looking back at me once more from where I stood across the room. 

“Give us a minute.” Walker waved her hand towards the man at the door. “We’re almost done here.”

Her tone made it sound like we really weren’t done, but the man left nonetheless. Walker’s face remained impassive as she looked at me once more, though maybe the slightly pained look on her face was just front the severity of her hairdo.

“I’ll ask you once more to sit down, Percy. I don’t want you to be making any rash decisions. I can charge you. And I will.”

“I feel like I need a lawyer.”

Walker stood up as her face turned into something more like a sneer, before her expression suddenly went blank. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she started looking like my mom when I told her something mildly concerning. An odd cross between confused and concerned. 

“I…we’ll be deporting you and your mother.” Walker suddenly declared, walking to the door and holding it open for me. I wasn’t sure what to think. One minute the officer is ready to arrest me and the next she’s practically letting me off scott free? “You’ll need to leave within twenty-four hours, and for any further questioning you’ll be contacted through the FBI.”

Walker just stood at the door, staring at me as if I was the one acting weird. I inched slowly toward the doorway, Walker giving me an imploring look as if asking why I wasn’t getting a move on. Just outside, my mom stood, a tight smile on her face. The moment I saw her, I no longer inched through the door. 

“Mom!” I dashed through the door, enveloping her in a hug. She winced, and I reflexively moved back. “Sorry, sorry.”

“I’m fine, honey.” She said, “Just a little sore.”

The cut on my moms face looked more like a scratch outside of the dim lighting in the museum, and a few bruises poked out from below her collar. A hand on my shoulder, she turned to Inspector Walker. 

“Thank you for all your help. We’ll be sure to get out of your hair.”

“Twenty-four hours.” Walker reminded.

“Of course.” My mom nodded, steering the two of us out of the building. I kept myself quiet until we had walked down the steps outside and were on the street, before spinning towards my mom. She looked resigned to her fate, as if she’s only been waiting for me to turn and start asking for answers.

“Julius, he…did he summon a God? Is that what happened?” 

My mom nodded, before looking around briefly. “We should discuss this someplace else.”

“No, no, you can’t just ignore whatever happened last night, or our whole little visit to the police station, I need answers!” I could hear the desperation in my voice, and even though I knew my mom didn’t deserve me yelling at her, I had to get it out . This whole situation was throwing me back to four years ago, finding out my best friend had goat legs and that the old ladies at the bus stop were prophesying my doom. Except this time I wasn’t scared. Just annoyed. 

“I get enough of this vague bullshit from dad’s side of the family.” I continued. “I don’t need it from you.”

My mom seemed to freeze at that. In shock enough that she didn’t even criticize my swearing, instead just shaking her head. I felt bad, alright? Of course I did. My mom, even as the paragon of good that she was, who remained stoic through everything, seemed tired. Her mass of curls were wild, not even pulled back into order by a ponytail, and her whole figure just screamed that she was done. But then again, I’d spent half my life looking for answers. Most of the time I never got them.

“You’re right.” My mom said, “I should have explained everything before we even came to London, but I was hoping it would end up being nothing. That you wouldn’t have to know.”

“Too late for that.”

My mom laughed, a small smile on her face. “You’re right. And I’ll explain. We can walk and talk, we need to meet Amos.”

I scoffed, but followed after my mom. 

“Yeah, Amos. Is he actually related to us? Please say no.”

“Amos is Julius’s brother. I’m their cousin.” My mom scolded me. “Amos came to me asking for help on your birthday because he believed Julius was planning to summon a God. The Egyptian Pantheon is very different from the Greeks. There is far less interaction with the mortal world.

“So Carter and Sadie aren’t demigods?”

“No. They have the Blood of the Pharaohs. They’re descendants of the pharaohs meaning they are able to tap into the divine power that connects them to the Gods and…harness magic. Like I am. Like you are.”

That made me freeze. It wasn’t enough that my extended family was involved with the Egyptian Gods. Or that my mom could cast magic spells (or whatever was happening last night). I, of course, also had to be involved in this mess. 

“So you're saying I’m related to, like, King Tut? And I can do the freaky stuff you and Julius were doing last night?”

“Sure.” My mom sighed. “What really matters is the Egyptian Gods are…they’re not welcome in the mortal world. I used to be a Magician for the House of Life. My job was to ensure the Gods stayed out of mortal affairs. Part of that meant we would trap them. Julius released one of the most dangerous of the pantheon…Set. And four others. All of them are powerful, Julius was being foolish.”

The whole idea of trapping Gods confused me. In my experience, doing anything against them was just asking to be smited. Hell, you could hardly even talk bad about Zeus without him throwing an almighty tantrum up in the sky. I couldn’t imagine living my life actively attempting to keep them out of my business. 

“And that means…?” I trailed off, my mom pausing on the street corner we’d reached.

“I–Amos would explain this better. It means the Gods are back. And that brings nothing good.”

“I don’t get how I never heard about any of this. I mean, you were some crazy ‘Magician’ and then decided to retire to the quiet life of working at a candy store?”

My mom stilled at that, a chill seeming to run over her. It wasn’t brought on by the cold outside, but it was as if she was reliving something. Thinking back to a forgotten memory. Hands creeping out of her coat pockets, she turned and grabbed my hands in her own, palms warm. 

“Pantheons don’t mix. I knew your father was a God as soon as I met him, but I also knew he wasn’t one of my Gods. But…I loved him. But, I also loved the work I did and the people that I helped working with the House of Life. I joined because of Amos and Julius. At that time in my life, they were practically my brothers. I would have stayed. But then I found out I was pregnant.” She hesitated. “I told Amos I was thinking about leaving the House, and he told me I would only be happy if I followed what I loved.” 

My mom laughed at that, and I found it hard to compare Amos, the brooding man in his trenchcoat, to the person my mom seemed so fond of. 

“And as much as I loved them, I could only think about how much I loved you. Even without having met you yet, I knew I loved you. You were the best thing to ever happen to me. So, I chose you . Because it was safer for you that way. Because you would learn how to protect yourself, and you could survive. And I moved to Manhattan, because that’s the world of the Greek Pantheon. The House of Life doesn’t go there, so my life wouldn’t have a chance to catch up to me.”

There were few times in my life in which I found my mom to be sorry. She was one of the boldest women I’d ever met, and yet here she seemed almost scared to speak to me. Eyes welling with tears, her face mirrored a look I’d only seen once before–sitting in a cabin at Montauk Beach, rain splattering on window panes as she told me half truths, still terrified of leaving me behind. 

“I’m sorry, Percy. I always taught you that instead of running from life you had to be ready to face it, but that’s exactly what I did. I ran, and now you have to deal with it. When you’ve already dealt with enough.”

I didn’t hesitate as I pulled my mom into a hug. Her arms wrapped around me, tightening to squeeze as I pressed her into my embrace. It was weird being the slightly taller one for once, but even when my moms head fit into the crook of my neck, I still felt like that twelve year old hugging his mom after his first quest. Holding onto her as if she were the only thing he had left.

“You don’t have to be sorry.” I whispered. My mom pulled herself slightly out of my arms, a smile on her face.

“I love you too much to not be sorry. But, Percy, this isn’t your issue to deal with. Once we get back to New York, you can forget this happened. I’ll tell Paul that Amos needs help, and this will just–”

“Hey, no.” I said, shaking my head. “We’re family. We do it together.”

My mom pursed her lips at that, but seemed to concede anyway. 

“Wait. Does dad know?” I asked, suddenly all too aware of the fact that my mom had lied her ass off to not one, but two groups of stupidly overpowered people.

“I think he always suspected something was a little off about me.” She settled on. “He never did ask what.”

Before I could laugh, a car pulled up where we stood. Specifically, a white subaru with luggage stacked in the back, a bag of blue colored candy sitting on the dash.

“I–is that our rental car?”

My mom ignored me, instead walking up to the car as the passenger seat window rolled down. Amos sat in the driver's seat, making a bold fashion statement with his sunglasses on inside the car.

“We should get out of here before that inspector starts wondering why she let you two go in the first place.”

My mom laughed, quickly wiping her eyes of any lingering tears as she leaned down slightly to talk into the window of the low seated car and grab the door handle. “Thought you might have had something to do with that.”

I couldn’t hear Amos' response, his voice muffled by the slam of my mom closing the door as she sat down. As much as I wanted to stand still in my shock, or to pull my mom out of the car and talk to her for longer, weeding out all the small pieces of her life story I’d never gotten to know, she pulled me out of my stunned silence. Her head poked out the window, one eyebrow raised.

“You getting in, Honey? I’d rather we don’t have a national manhunt out for you a second time.”

“Low blow, mom.” Despite the words coming out my mouth, I knew my mom could see I didn’t mean a word. National manhunt or not, it was Christmas. And getting into the backseat and seeing the smile on my Mom’s as she talked to Amos, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to regret this too much. Not when she looked so happy.

“Before we head back to New York, we need to pay a visit to my niece and nephew.” Amos said, putting the car into drive. “Julius would kill me if I let them get arrested by Scotland Yard.”

Chapter Text

Entering Sadie's house was like when you walk into your friend's house and they’re arguing with their parents—and then those parents start asking you for your opinion. Except this was worse. So much worse. I had a feeling I was hijacking a long overdue family meeting. Now, here’s the sitch, at least what I gathered from my mom and Amos talking in the car. Carter and Sadie’s grandparents won custody of Sadie from Julius—and for some reason didn’t want Carter? I don’t know, but either way, the family drama was clearly immense without the otherworldly stuff going on, so I wasn’t feeling all too confident butting in. Amos on the other hand seemed all too happy to intrude in people's lives, just like he’d been doing to mine lately. 

Sadie’s house was brick, with a little too much white trim and neat, short hedge outfront. Really, it just looked like every other house in the neighborhood. Following my mom up to the front door, one of the most defining features was the doormat, which said ‘No Soliciting’ in looping cursive script—as if it was a cute quote like ‘Welcome Home’ rather than a threat to contact the police. Amos didn’t even knock as the three of us stood in silence, the only noise being my tapping foot until he shot me a horrible glare from behind his sunglasses. It seemed almost like Amos wasn’t waiting for someone to let him in–as if everyone should have already known we’d be showing up. With his cryptic talk earlier about his niece and nephew getting arrested, I would place plenty of drachmas on the idea of anyone expecting us being entirely wrong. 

“We…uh, gonna go in?” 

My mom and Amos both looked behind their shoulders at me, my pockets shoved in my hoodie as I shrugged, “It’s cold.” 

“Just a moment, Percy.” Amos said, and low and behold, an older man wearing a suit flung himself out the house, the door swinging so rapidly it almost smacked my mom in the face as she dodged and tried to stop it with her hand. 

Amos had already walked in, my mom gesturing for me to follow and closing the door behind us as she entered. Now, I hate to stereotype, but if I had to imagine any pair of grandparents I feel like Carter and Sadies took the cake. A photo of them was probably sitting next to the word in the dictionary. Their grandpa reminded me of the guy from ‘Up,’ but before he went on his journey to obtain redeeming qualities–it was hard to tell if the angry furrow of his brow was permanent from too many years scowling, or if it was just extra prominent due to how much he seemed to hate Amos. 

“You,” the man growled, his wife looking less angry but equally shocked by Amos’s audacity. I could relate. “I should’ve known. And you.” 

At that, he had turned to my mom, who in a remarkable instance wasn’t smiling. Instead, she looked pained. Like seeing the two people before her was going to give her a stomach ache. Despite her obvious discomfort, she held eye contact with Sadie’s grandfather.

“Mr. and Mrs. Faust.” She said, “I’m sorry we had to meet again like this.”

“I’m sorry we met at all.” Mr. Faust growled.

“George.” Mrs. Faust whispered, clearly not admonishing. It felt more like a reminder to start saving face.

“It’s about time we talked.” Amos said, letting himself further into the house. He flopped on the sofa where Sadie was standing awkwardly, pouring himself a cup of tea from the kettle on the coffee table. Did he act like this everywhere he went? Or just with relatives who didn’t like him all that much?

“About time?” Mr. Faust seethed, stomping over to Amos and looking as if he were about to start a brawl as Amos dropped a sugar cube in his tea, the small plop deafening in the silent room. 

“Please, sit down.” He said. 

Surprisingly, everyone sat. It was strange, and reminded me slightly of the Aphrodite children's charm speak, everyone following the order as if some of them hadn’t been about to start fighting Amos moments before. Carter sat on one corner of the same couch as Amos, Sadie curling herself into an armchair on the other side of the room and fixing Carter with a scowl, the angry look sometimes shifting to Percy, who still stood awkwardly by the doorway. His mom was beside Amos. 

Amos looked as if he was about to speak before his eyes dashed over to me, face taking on momentary confusion at the sight of me before he gestured for me to join the group. I sighed. It was giving awkward family reunion, a concept I’d only ever had lamented to me by Annabeth. If her time spent at her dads house was anything like this—the palpable tension between everyone, the not so hidden scowls—I was becoming more understanding of her dislike of going home.

“Terrible timing.” Muttered Amos, biscuit crumbs dropping from his chin as he stroked it. “But there’s no other way, they’ll have to come with us.”

“Excuse me?” Sadie hissed from her fetal position on the chair. “I’m not going anywhere with a strange man with biscuits on his face!”

Amos didn’t bother to check. The crumbs remained. 

“I–he’s not a stranger, Sadie. He’s your uncle.” My mom explained, Sadie's eyes widening to the size of golf balls. 

“What!?” 

“That doesn’t make it better! You almost fought Dad! Why should we go anywhere with you?” Carter asked, before targeting my mom. “And you helped him with whatever was going on in that museum!”

My moms face drained slightly of color, eyes darting between everyone, before catching on the Fausts, sitting across the room from her. Mr. Faust looked more livid than usual, and with how well the night had been going, that was saying something. 

“Well, I—that’s not quite true—”

“She and I were trying to stop your dad, Carter. If he had listened to the both of us none of this would have happened.”

Amos, while invasive and lacking awareness of social cues, was clearly pandering to the right crowd. The Fausts seemed to have some idea of the magical, Egyptian nonsense Amos was alluding to. 

“You and your superstitions!” Mr. Faust said. “We want none of it. We had an agreement, you can not just take Sadie.”

It didn’t take much to notice the way Carter flinched back as the words left his grandfather's mouth.

“You’re well aware it’s their only chance.”

“Only chance for what?” Carter asked, being flat out ignored. 

“Only chance?” Mrs. Faust said. “Your superstitions–we want none of it, Amos. The two of you had no business coming here–”

“Superstition?” Amos interrupted. “And yet you found a house on the east bank of the river.”

This statement didn’t seem to carry much weight for many in the room, Sadie and Carter once again shooting each other looks as Carter seemed to consider if it’d even be worth it to ask another question. Mr. Faust burned a bright red, and my Mom looked almost scolded, even though the remark wasn’t directed at her.

“It was Ruby’s idea.” Mr. Faust said. “Thought it would protect us. But she was wrong about many things, wasn’t she? She trusted you and Julius for one, and you!”

“You don’t want my apologies."

My mom started, looking unfazed. It was odd seeing her like this—more sure than I’d ever seen her, more persistent. I would always remember my moms quiet confidence, her quiet anger. Her rage. It was something I’d seen throughout my youth, as she fought with school principals and counselors to let me stay one more year. That persistence she always had when telling me it wasn’t my fault. But this? It was different. It was what came from years of looking after yourself before anyone else after you realized they weren't coming to help. Because that’s what my mom did. What she always would do. 

“And that’s fine. I’ve said sorry plenty of times, and I still don’t forgive myself. So let me tell you, Mr. Faust. I get it. I wouldn’t forgive me either. But I have a son, and if you care about your niece and nephew even half as much as I care about him, you would listen to Amos. You know what this all means, what’s started. The police are the least of your worries.”

The house took on a stunned silence. 

Mrs. Faust pursed her lips. “You could get them out of the country?”

Sadie looked like she was about to combust. She practically sprung up from where she was slouched, nearly launching herself out of her chair. “Gramps, you can’t just let them–”

“They’ll come to the mansion in Brooklyn.” Amos said. “I can protect them there.”

“You have a mansion?” I interrupted, all the adults in the room sending me varying looks of annoyance.

“Yes, the family mansion.” 

“ What? ” Whispered Carter, who up until now had seemed pretty calm about everything. He’d, in a way, seemed to have accepted the fact that Sadie’s bargaining only applied to her. He wouldn’t be staying with his grandparents, no matter what. 

“It’s the only way?” Mrs. Faust asked, face looking like she was either sucking a lemon or about to cry. 

“Yes.”

The two grandparents nodded. I felt like I’d just watched the Gods decide someone's fate, but instead it was two mortals deciding to let their niece and nephew possibly be kidnapped. Carter seemed all too ready to leave, shouldering Julius’s workbag and walking over to Amos, who stood. My mom and I followed suit. Sadie hadn’t quite passed the bargaining stage of grief, and was hissing something else to her grandparents. 

“You really plan on making it to New York in an hour?” Carter asked Amos. “You said we wouldn’t need a plane.”

“No.” Amos agreed, before moving over to the window. I was about to roll my eyes, was he really making drawings in the condensation right now? But instead, he stepped back and revealed another drawing like the ones from the museum. A hieroglyph. 

I looked over to Sadie, remembering her translating the hieroglyphs at the museum. 

“Well?” I asked. “What’s it say?”

“Boat.” She blurted out, before suddenly tensing as Amos peered at her over his glasses.

“How did you–”

“It looks like a boat, ya know?” Sadie cut him off, and I was hit with the realization that maybe translating hieroglyphs wasn’t a special talent reserved for magicians and Sadie was just extra weird. “But you can’t mean that. A boat?”

“Look!” Carter cried.

Sadie pressed beside him at the patio doors, and I stood on my tip toes to look over them to see a boat docked on the river. One that I was sure was not there when we entered the Faust’s house. It wasn’t like any boat I’d seen before, but with what we were dealing with, I was sure it was Egyptian in design. The oddest part was the figure in a black trenchcoat and hat standing at the tiller.

Now, I’ve seen a lot. But I have to admit, I was kind of at a loss for words. The rules of the Egyptian world seemed to be entirely different than that of the Greek—and I didn’t feel any closer to figuring them out. 

“We’re taking that.” Carter said. “To Brooklyn.”

“Yes, and we’d really better get going.” Amos said. 

Sadie whirled back around, knocking into me from my place behind her and giving her grandmother one more look of disbelief.

“The cat, Amos.” My mom suddenly said, and Sadie's glare was now onto her.

“What do you want with my cat?!”

“Nothing, sweetie.” My mom shook her head, somewhat grimacing, as the cat came racing down the stairs. As if summoned. Now, let's just say I have a sort of knack for this mythological stuff at this point, even if it wasn’t my mythological stuff. And that cat? If it was just a cat, and not at least weird in some sort of way, I would take on dish duty at camp for a year. 

Not only did it perform a majestic leap into Sadie's arms, but then proceeded to stare me down with its evil little eyes, as if I was personally offending it by just existing. I’d seen that look plenty of times from monsters and the endless list of deities I’d pissed off. I was the first out the doors onto the little porch where the boat was sitting, my mom following after me. I didn’t need to stay in the house for another minute to witness Sadie’s continued argument with her grandparents. 

“Did you…feel guilty when you had to bring me to camp?” I asked my mom, the two of us standing out by the water. “Cus this sucks. ”

My mom laughed, though her eyes didn’t leave their watch over the river.

“Why do you think I didn’t take you earlier?”

“I think—I don’t know, I was so overwhelmed by everything I never pictured the other end of it…do you think Carter and Sadie will be alright?”

“I’ve known those two since they were little.” Mom admitted, and suddenly another puzzle piece of her life was slotted into place. “They’re both too stubborn to be anything but fine. But, don’t feel guilty for this, Percy. This is Julius’s fault, and Amos and I will figure it out. You’ve got enough on your plate.”

“Is this really something I can avoid?” I asked, and hated how irritated I sounded. Look, I’m never one to back down from helping people. But if it was possible to somehow not get mixed up in another conflict when the war with Kronos was looming on the horizon? Hell, I’d take it. 

“We can try.” My mom said, “Like we always do.”

With that, the glass sliding door slid open with a thunk, Sadie storming out with her cat in her arms, looking fairly disgruntled. The cat more so than Sadie. Carter came after her, standing beside me as we both watched Sadie stomp onto the boat, immediately causing it to go off balance. She pitched forward, yelping as her cat jumped out of her arms to sit on the porch. I impulsively moved forward to help, but Carter placed his hand on my arm, stopping me.

“Don’t mind her.” He said. “She’ll get over it once she gets all her anger out.”

“And…uh, how long will that take?” I asked.

Sadie was letting out a string of expletives from her place on the floor of the boat, sitting up and blowing a strand of red hair out of her face. Her cat stared at her, letting out a single mrow and walking with what I could only describe as style onto the boat. It reminded me of the way some of the Aphrodite kids walked around camp, with that subtle air of, ‘I’m better than you and I know it.’ It was odd to witness in a cat.

“Not sure,” Carter said, “I think she’s more upset at Gran and Gramps and Amos than you and your mom.”

Amos appeared next, stepping gracefully onto the boat, to which Sadie let out a huff.

“You’ll all want to sit inside.” He said. “The trip may be a little rough.”

“What trip?” I asked, fully meaning every drop of sarcasm dripping from my voice. It wasn’t like I had extensive knowledge on boats, but being who I was lent me some natural instincts on things like this. That boat didn’t seem the sturdiest, had no oars, and also had plenty of reasons it wasn’t going anywhere. You’d have to be an idiot to not notice the glaring issue with it. “You don’t have a sail.”

“It’ll be fine, sweetie.” Mom said, patting my arm as she walked past me, joining Carter as he boarded. 

My mom and I have two very different definitions of that word. While I wasn’t about to doubt whatever Egyptian bullshit Amos was going to pull out, that didn’t mean I had to be okay with it. Especially because Sadie’s cat-not-cat had been letting out a low growl since we’d all sat down in the small hut on the boat. Nothing about this was exactly confidence inspiring. 

It was almost like shadow traveling with Niko—just immeasurably worse. It came with the same stomach dropping feeling, the creeping cold that seemed to seep into every crevice of your body. I felt hyped up on adrenaline, like I had just gone off the highest peak of a rollercoaster, except the free fall never ended. My stomach had dropped out of my body, and even though I really wanted to throw up, I couldn’t find it. 

The boat moved at a speed that even I wouldn’t have been able to push it to. City lights streamed past in a way that made it seem like we were in the middle of a shooting star, or trapped on the Sun Chariot, until they were enveloped in a thick fog that reminded me of the underworld. In the darkness, I could hear screeching and wailing. Slithering, hissing. 

And just when I thought maybe my eyeballs were going to sear out of my brain, the boat slowed. The city lights came back, brighter than before, and my body relaxed minutely as I felt the comforting feeling of the boat once again rocking on water. As my eyes came back into focus, I felt myself freeze. 

“That’s New York.” I heard Carter mutter next to me, standing and clearly less bothered by whatever in Hades that was. “How is that–what even…”

Sadie looked as green as I was sure I did, and wasn’t that embarrassing. Son of the sea god gets seasick and nearly throws up on his cousin and her cat, who, by the way, was purring. What a freak.

“We were traveling for like, five minutes.” She said, “How is that possible?” 

“Magic.” I said, not enthused. 

Amos didn’t respond, and with my head still spinning, I decided to keep my other comments to myself. The remaining ride was fairly quick, and I wish that the whole hellish journey on that devil boat had been like the lovely minute we spent on the actual river instead of the ride through a third dimension.

As soon as the boat was docked on the East River, I was off of it and for once in my life was more thankful to be on land than on the water. As Amos grabbed the hat off the steersman, who just disappeared as Amos grabbed the trenchcoat, the boat started to sail away, gliding smoothly down the river. 

I sent the boat a withering glare, hoping it could sense some of my fury. 

“That.” I seethed. “Is not a boat.”

Chapter Text

I’m not really someone who ever had a problem with money. Yeah, snooty kids at private schools have always pushed my buttons, but if anything, they always seemed to be more bothered by my mothers income than I was. I could think of plenty of times I’d gotten detention from fighting with other kids about it, because in what world would I not defend my mom? But I think seeing Amos’s house really made me think for the first time, wow. This is kind of messed up.

Now, I don’t really get how Egyptian magic works, but I feel like there’s got to be limits at just creating a giant mansion for yourself. Sitting there along the river, stacked atop an old warehouse, was what had to be an at least five story mansion. Yeah, I’ve seen Olympus. Nothing compares. This was more so a gut feeling of comparison to just me. My mom’s cousin was living here, meanwhile she worked three jobs when I was younger just to afford an apartment. How did that even make sense? To be honest, seeing the mansion kind of just made me more annoyed at Amos, if that was possible. My mom seemed to sense my disbelief as we trailed behind Amos and my cousins.

“It’s not technically his.”

“The Mansion? He clearly lives there, Mom.”

“It belongs to the 21st Nome.”

I paused, giving my mom a narrow look.

“Don’t tell me Gnomes are real.”

“Oh, they are. They’re quite horrible, actually–sorry, sidetracked. It’s Nome. N-O-M-E. They're sort of…districts. Amos could explain better than me, but New York itself is the 21st district, as described by the House of Life. It’s global, they’ve got Nomes across the globe.”

“Great. The Egyptians have gone global. They should be more like the Greeks, choose one place and stick it out.”

My mom sighed, though before she could say anything I felt a sharp tug on my sleeve. Sadie was in front of me, nearly causing me to stumble from where we were walking up the seemingly endless stairs to the mansion. I couldn’t help but think of Olympus, and for once I thought I could start singing praises about that stupid elevator. Gods, I could only imagine climbing 600 flights of stairs instead. 

“Amos is cuckoo.” Sadie whispered. “And Carter’s acting like he’s just totally normal, even when he keeps giving Muffin weird looks.”

I decided not to say that I was also giving Muffin some weird looks, because I was worried Sadie would start calling me cuckoo if I admitted that it felt like the cat was giving me weird looks back. We’d reached the top of the stairs, and Sadie had taken to glaring at Carter, apparently upset with how “buddy-buddy” he was being with Amos. It made sense, in my opinion. She had more to lose leaving her grandparents house. 

“After you, Carter.” Amos said, as we all approached the entrance to the mansion–a flat piece of wood with no handle. 

“How do I…uh–”

“How do you think?”

See, now Amos was reminding me of Chiron. What with the cryptic talking and the not-so subtle expectation of you learning to do things yourself. I could feel for Carter, but he apparently didn’t need help, as he raised his hand and the wood followed his movement, like he was some wizard or something. I looked at my mom, raising an eyebrow as if to ask, are you seeing this?

She nodded, and I pointed at myself. I mean, if I’m related to them, I could only assume that I’d get to do some of the weird Egyptian magic too.

My mom smirked.

Sadie looked stunned. “What…”

“Motion sensors?” Carter suggested, but I just shook my head.

“Nah, that was magic.”

Amos looked over to me, sounding troubled. “Correct, Percy. Though that’s not exactly how I would have gone about it, but remarkably good.”

“Magic? What do you mean–” Sadie spoke at the same time as Carter, who frowned.

“Thanks? I think.”

Sadie huffed, and I walked with her to enter the mansion only for Muffin to let out a piercing wail, clawing herself out of Sadie's arms and landing on my Mom, who yelped as she caught the cat.

Sadie stumbled backward. “Muffin!”

“Oh, right.” Amos said, “My apologies.” Amos placed his palm on the cats head, and said formally, “You may enter.”

“The cat needs permission?” Carter asked.

“Special circumstances.” Amos said, which in my opinion wasn’t much of an explanation, but he walked inside without saying anything else. My mom on the other hand was trying to get the cat out of her arms, attempting to hand her to Sadie until Muffin let out a disgruntled meow.

My mom looked between Sadie and Muffin. “Fine.” She said, and I swear that she even glared at the cat, as if they had some secret feud, “I’ll just hold her.”

“Right…” Sadie said, quickly following Amos and Carter inside.

“This.” Amos said, “Is the Great Room.”

Sadie's jaw dropped, and I half thought her gum would fall out of her mouth as she craned her neck around the room. If she had been holding the cat, I’m sure she would have dropped her.

The cedar beamed ceiling was four stories high–it was kind of like a big, central room that connected all the floors. Balconies stretched along three sides of the room, the furthest wall back having a fireplace as big as my living room. A giant snakeskin rug was on the floor, bigger than any snake that existed in the mortal world. I wasn’t sure a Hydra would get you a rug that long, and this one didn’t even seem long enough to be the whole snake with the odd proportions. At the far end of the room, there was a set of double doors chained with at least a dozen padlocks, the doors having a weird eye symbol on them.

But what really caught my attention was the giant statue in the middle of the room. It was clearly a God. A sculpture of them in their natural form, 30 feet tall and looming. And, get this, said God had a bird for a head. The neck stretched up, and a long beak was right by the beady little eyes. Gods are, admittedly, a little intimidating when they want to be. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the 

Gods of this pantheon if they were half animal.

“Per Ankh!” Sadie exclaimed. “That’s it!”

Sadie was looking up at the book the statue held in its hands, with an odd symbol on its back that looked a lot like a box and a cross. Well, if the cross had gotten a little confused at the top and been more like an oval than a line. 

Carter stared at her in disbelief. He apparently hadn’t caught up to the fact that Sadie was better at this whole Magician thing than he was. “All right. How’d you read that.”

“I don’t know, but it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“No.” I deadpanned.

“The top part is like the floor plan of a house.”

“It’s a box.” Carter insisted, but it seemed more that he was more irritated at Sadie being better than him at something than at not being able to understand himself. Sadie looked absolutely positive, shaking her head.

“It’s a house. And that's the ankh, the symbol for life. Per Ankh—The House of Life.”

“Correct, Sadie.” Amos said. “And this is a statue of the only God allowed in the House of Life—at least, under normal circumstances.” Muffin meowed. I shot the cat a look. “Do you recognize him, Carter?”

Carter took a moment. “Thoth.” He said. “The god of knowledge. He invented writing.”

So kind of the Egyptian version of Athena. Were birds a wisdom thing? Owls and whatever bird was stuck to this poor guy's head? I wondered if this God would hate my guts as much as Athena did.

“Indeed.” Amos said.

“Why the animal heads?” I asked, my mind flashing back to the moments in the museum. Because that man had surely been a God, and he seemed pretty normal aside from the flaming body. “Are the heads really necessary?”

“They don’t appear that way.” My mom said, “Not in real life.”

“Real life?” Sadie asked. “You make it sound like you’ve met them.”

The expressions on Amos and my moms faces weren’t very reassuring. My mom, once again, had me feeling like a crazy person. How many Gods had she met? More than just Dad, apparently.

“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?” 

“Not even a little,” Sadie said. 

“Mmm.” Amos didn’t sound surprised.

 “Yes, we have much training to do. 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.” Carter interrupted, looking like he was about to have a stroke or something from the lack of information he was getting. He would fit right in with the Athena kids. “What even is The House of Life, why is Thoth allowed here, why do we need training–”

“Carter, I understand how you feel.” Truth be told, I’m not sure Amos was being very genuine. “But these things are better discussed in daylight. You both are due for some sleep after the day you’ve had, and I don’t need you having nightmares.”

“You think I’m gonna sleep?” Sadie asked.

Muffin stretched in my moms arms, letting loose a huge yawn.

Amos clapped his hands. “Khufu!”

For a second I was about to whisper something semi-rude to my mom about another relative that I hadn’t been introduced to, but then a furry little guy came down wearing a purple shirt. It took me a second to realize it was a monkey. If this guy was related to me, I was about to shit myself. A horse was enough.

Said monkey did a front flip, landing in front of us and letting out what could have been either a roar or a terrible belch, before banging his chest and bringing my attention to the L.A Lakers jersey he was wearing.

“Really dude?” I said the first thing I thought of. “In New York?”

The monkey screamed. 

Carter smiled. “They’re my home team!”

Khufu slapped his head, giving Carter what I could only interpret to be a grin, but only served to be somewhat disturbing as his fangs poked out.

“Oh, Khufu likes you.” Amos said. He looked at me. “I think you two may have gotten off on the wrong foot.”

“I can’t help it if I like the Knicks.” I explained, Khufu screeching again.

“Huh.” Sadie said, dazed. “Monkey butler. That’s great, that’s soooo great.”

Muffin purred, as if Khufu didn’t bother her at all. I was beginning to like the cat less.

“Agh!” Khufu grunted at Carter, who shifted foot to foot. I was glad I wasn’t the only one confused by the monkey. Somehow, this was becoming more upsetting than anything else I’d witnessed in the last 24 hours.

Amos laughed. “He wants to go one on one with you Carter. To, ah, see your game.”

I tried not to be offended that Khufu didn’t want to see my game.

“The monkey butler hates me, what has my life come to–”

Khufu interrupted me with a screech, and Amos quickly translated. I was beginning to think he was just making things up and saying whatever he wanted. With everything else he’d done so far in my life, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

“He prefers baboon.”

“He didn’t care when Sadie called him–”

“I think it’s time we all get some rest.” Amos said. “And I’m sure you two want to be getting home.”

“I think we should talk.” My mom said instead. 

“Khufu, show them to their rooms, will you?” Amos said to Khufu, Carter and Sadie frowning but going to follow the baboon, whose jersey unfortunately didn’t cover his behind. Just as they started to follow, Amos stopped them.

“Carter, the workbag, please.” 

Carter's white knuckle grip on the bag may have hinted that he didn’t exactly want to let go of it.

“He’s not going to keep it forever.” My mom reassured, fixing Amos with a stare that seemed to more be a warning to him than to Carter. “And Sadie.” She said, walking over and quickly depositing Muffin into her arms. “You should take the cat.”

Carter handed over the workbag, and Amos grabbed it as if he were handling a bottle of greek fire. What was in that thing?

“See you in the morning." Amos said to Carter and Sadie. He motioned for my mom and I to follow him. The padlocked doors unchained themselves on their own, and I followed my Mom and Amos in as they opened just slightly, glancing back to watch them close on Carter and Sadie, leaving them on the other side.

The room didn’t make sense. It was a library, but it went down rather than up, and I may have my moments of being a bit dumb, but let me remind you of something. The mansion was on top of a warehouse. There shouldn’t have been anywhere down to go. 

The walls were decorated with paintings and depictions of the Egyptian Gods. Truthfully, the whole room gave me a sort of odd vibe. As if I didn’t quite belong inside of it. The air was heavy with something, and it creeped along my skin with the same feeling as fog. Amos just moved quickly down the stairs, my mom hurrying after them and leaving me to walk behind the two. 

“You’re going to explain everything to them in the morning, right?” My mom asked. “It would be ridiculous if you didn’t.”

“Of course I will, Sally.” Amos said, reaching the bottom floor and placing Julius’s workbag on a long table that stretched across most of the room. “But I think the better question is what you even want to talk about.”

My mom raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to get Julius?”

That had me thrown for a loop. “He’s not dead?”

“I’ll explain later, honey.” My mom said. Amos still didn’t respond. “So?”

“I’ll figure it out.” Amos insisted. “Right now, I have to deal with the 1st Nome. Sadie and Carter will be here until the issue is resolved.”

“With the monkey.” I said. “You’re gonna leave them with the monkey.”

I was beginning to question my own upbringing, what with spending my summers around horses I could speak to and trees that were technically people and a half horse for a teacher, but if all those things were true, maybe the monkey was smarter than he let on. I doubted it. 

“So long as they stay in the house, they’ll be fine.”

“They could stay with–”

“On the West Bank?” Amos scoffed, as if the idea of living in Manhattan was one of the most egregious insults he’d ever heard.

“Well, tell them they can call me.” My mom said, grabbing a roll of thick paper off the table. “I’ll leave my home phone.”

Amos handed over what had to be the most ancient writing set ever, a wooden stylus and a little ink pot that he put on the table for my mom. She quickly scrawled down the number for the phone at our apartment, leaving it on the table. Amos stared at it for a second, and then stared at her. It was weird, seeing this relationship my mom clearly had that I’d never gotten to see. Weird to realize that in all the ways my life wasn’t hers, hers wasn’t mine either.

“And I guess you can call me now, too.” My mom continued. “If this whole family thing is something we’re doing again–”

“You aren’t a magician anymore, Sally.”

My mom scoffed. “I didn’t say I want to be one. But I’m practically Carter and Sadies Aunt, Gods forbid I want to be part of their lives now that I’m able to. And Percy. He should learn too.”

Amos nodded, sounding indifferent. “I suppose so.”

“I’d rather not leave the ones I love defenseless.” And that felt like a statement that was about more than just me. Amos seemed to catch on to that too.

“Julius didn’t listen to me–”

“So you just leave him and hope it all goes well? You're his brother! What does it matter at that point?”

“It matters.” Amos contested. “You weren’t here for years, Sal.”

And there, a nickname, Sal. I’d never heard anyone give my mom a nickname before. Paul, sure, but those were more romantic ones that I had to find disgusting by virtue of being her kid. Not something so…familial.

“I love Julius—I love those kids as much as you do.” My mom said, “You think I’d have flown all the way to London if I didn’t?”

“Of course not.” 

The silence between them was so awkward I thought I might combust. 

“Mom?” I interrupted, and she looked over at me, as if she kind of forgot I was there. “We should head home.”

“Right.” She sighed, brushing her hair back and walking towards Amos, pulling him into a hug before he could protest. He seemed surprised, but sunk into it. It was hard not to sink into my moms hugs. Even when I started getting taller than my mom, she had a way of making me feel like I was the smaller one once she got her arms around me. Her love was all encompassing in that way.

Her and Amos stayed connected for a moment, and then she moved and held him at an arms distance, arms braced on his shoulders as she looked at him. “Call me. I don’t care if we fight, just call me, okay? I miss you.”

“Yeah.” Amos nodded. “I miss you too.”

And with that, my Mom hesitated for just a second before she grabbed my hand to pull me up the stairs, pursuing her lips and staying silent until we were out the door of the front entrance, the doors seemingly opening for her without argument as she breezed out the mansion.

“How’s this?” She started as we went back down the endless staircase. “We get some sleep, and in the morning we can do presents and I can explain everything.”

“Yeah, Mom.” I said. “That’d be great.”

I tried not to have my tone come off as annoyed, but based on the glances I kept getting from my mom I’m not sure I was so successful. But, come on! You can only hold off the existential crisis from learning the Gods are real for so long. And I’d just done it twice now.

“Amos was odd,” my mom said. Clearly changing the conversation topic. Little did she know that was exactly my area of expertise, but I let it slide. I wasn’t used to there being tension between the two of us, and I was happy to let it dissipate.

“He seems about as odd as every other time I’ve seen him.”

My mom laughed, but glanced back at the mansion behind us as we walked towards the road. 

“I promise you he means well.” My mom said. “Life's just been–tough on him. But, no. He’s off. Maybe its Julius, or the kids…but somethings wrong.”

“Would he not tell you?”

And my mom, with a sigh that felt heavier than normal, shook her head. “No. Not anymore.”