Artemis Fowl: The Olympian Case

XXIVb: The Path of the Gods

"And here is the Great Room" Carter guided the trio through a massive space where all sorts of teenagers and people were either talking or simply chilling while watching the sports channel.

Annabeth was immediately amazed by the architecture in the room; the cedar ceiling that climbs four stories high which are held up by stone pillars with hieroglyphs engraved upon them; walls decorated with strange assortment of musical instruments and Ancient Egyptian weapons that were pretty exotic. There is even an enormous fireplace (big enough to park a car) with a plasma-screen TV above the mantel; it is flanked by two leather sofas and has a giant snake-skin rug on the ground. In the center of it all stood a two-story-tall statue with a head of an ibis, clothed in a fancy Egyptian get-up and holding up a scroll and quill.

"Thoth" Artemis muttered in a daze, his eyes seeming to have a faraway look as he gazed at the statue. Annabeth couldn't read what was going through this mortal's mind, but whatever it is had to be something about her mom. She bit down a tinge of jealousy and faced Sadie, the sight of an old friend making her smile "It's been long! I'm sorry I haven't contacted for some time–had to run a long errand in Boston and had just got myself back on my feet until–surprise, surprise–in comes another calamity!"

"That must be dreadful" Sadie sympathized and patted Annabeth's shoulder, "Still, you owe me a shopping trip in Manhattan. Deal?"

"Deal" Both grinned as they high-five one another, a scene that made Walt flinch and Zia giving them a curious look.

"Yo, Carter!" Julian, along with a couple of trainees, approached and eyed the three strangers-his gaze staying a second longer on the blonde, "New initiates? I could help out with the tour, and I could show you a thing or two if you catch my drift"

Annabeth huffs, "I'm too old for you, kid. Run along before I kick your sorry behind straight to the Underworld"

Everyone chuckles from that, even Julian, "I like her-what path of the gods are you taking?"

"Athena" Annabeth cocks her head and glances at Artemis, "But more of her child than admirer"

Artemis shrugs, "Touché"

Carter waves his hand in dismissal before questions could be further raised as the group made their way to a three-story long flight of stairs towards a carefully-crafted door. If the Great Room was impressive, then to Annabeth the Library was so traditionally marvelous, she might have stamped it as a UNESCO world heritage site!

The walls of the library were decorated with pictures of gods, monsters, and people in all different colors. It also was filled with cubbyholes holding scrolls, one that Annabeth could bet contain knowledge she wouldn't have dreamed regarding Egyptian mythology. The ceiling had a shade of deep blue and covered in swirling stars that shape the form of a woman, probably a goddess of sorts. Similarly, the floor is shaped into a man's body, the earth seeming to latch onto it in such an artistic style.

"Nut and Geb" Artemis muttered while stroking his chin, "The Sky and Earth, respectively"

"Familiar with the Egyptian gods, are you?" Sadie eyed this Irish boy with curiosity.

"In a manner of speaking" Artemis replied, a slight glint of grey in his eyes flashed for an instant then faded like it never happened. Before Sadie could question it, Carter clapped his hands to get their attention.

"I think proper introductions are at hand before we could discuss things further; as you know, I'm Carter Kane, path of Horus. Pharaoh-in-vacation and Slayer of Chaos, along with my sister Sadie Kane who follows the path of Isis"