Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Rick Riordan does.
<Percy's P.O.V>
...Nico. I opened the door to find Nico in my hotel room as Carter was fast asleep. The first thought I had was 'Why the hell is he here?'. I called him outside to the dinning area to discuss whatever he wanted.
By the time I reached the dining area, I saw Nico sitting at a table, ordering something. Thankfully, the diner was open at 10 in the night. I went over to the table and sat down beside him.
"What happened Neeks?" I asked, "And how the hell did you come here so quickly?"
"I had learnt about shadow travelling at camp, which is mostly common for all Hades' children. As to why I came here... I can't... can't forget... what happened..." he trailed off and started sobbing. I immediately understood and hugged him as he cried onto my shoulder.
"Ok Nico. Calm down. Your sister will not want to see you in this state, right? She is always over here" I said, pointing at his heart, as he was sobbing. "How do you know about family deaths Percy? She was the only one I had." He said.
I looked at his eyes and said "Trust me Nico. I know about it. After all my mortal parents had died just a few months ago" as he looked at me emphatically. The moment had to be ruined by the waiter, who had come back with Nico's order which was Chinese noodles. I raised my eyebrows at this and he sent me a look that said, 'I will explain later.'
"Anything else you would want sir?" the waiter asked. I looked over at Nico and asked, "What ice cream do you want?" He looked at me and said, "A Choco vanilla ice-cream" his mouth filled with the noodles.
I turned to the waiter and said "A Choco vanilla ice cream and a blueberry ice-cream will do. Thank you." After the waiter left, Nico asked "How did your parents die?" and all I said was "Monster attack. What is with your Chinese obsession now?" I asked.
"Getting struck in china for a day does that to you the first time I shadow travelled anyways. Then I felt your presence here and came here. What about you?" he asked.
"Well, I have been traveling with my cousin and uncle after my parents died and we are here to meet my cousin sister, who is living with her grandparents." I said, and he nodded.
We sat chatting for about half an hour along with finishing our dessert until Nico said he was feeling sleepy and fell asleep beside me. I smiled sadly at him. The poor boy had his mother killed and then he is sent to a casino which slows down time and comes out after about 70 years only to see his only family member die.
I picked him up, bridal style and payed the bill and carried him to the room at which Carter and I were currently staying. He snuggled into my chest and as I carried him up and then I vowed to be the family he had never had. I set him down on the other bed and went to sleep on the couch.
<Carter P.O.V>
I woke up in the morning, gasping and sweating from the dream which I had just had. I just hoped it will not come true though. I looked over to the bed Percy was having to find someone else occupying it and Percy was nowhere to be seen.
As I approached the bed to see who was there, the person, a boy screamed something that sounded like Italian and bolted upright, gasping for breath. I took a glass of water by the nightstand and gave it to him, which he took gratefully. Just then, Percy entered the room, looking like he had just had a shower.
As soon as he saw the boy, he ran up to us and sat by the boy's side. "Are you feeling well? Is it that dream again?" he asked the boy and he nodded and looked over at me. "Sorry if I had woken you up. My name is Nico, Percy's cousin, dads side" he said and held out his hand. I shook it and said "Carter, Percy's cousin, mothers side."
"What time is it now?" Nico asked and Percy looked at his watch and said "It is about six thirty in the morning. Have breakfast down and go if you are leaving." Nico nodded and left saying "Thank you for letting me stay over Percy and nice meeting you Carter" he said. "Nice meeting you too, Nico" I said as he closed the door.
As soon as the door closed, I turned to Percy and asked "Where did he come from and where were you last night?"
Percy looked at me, thinking about something. "Well, after you went to sleep, I went to talk to your dad about something and then on my way here, caught up with Nico, who was nearby. Since he was feeling sleepy and had nowhere to go, I brought him up here. Anyways, now get ready, we are to meet Sadie today!!" he exclaimed and went outside to god knows where.
-----------------------------------------Time Skip to Sadie's house-----------------------------------
I was standing in front of Sadie's house, waiting for her to come out as the door burst open, revealing my sister in all her glory. She had highlighted blonde hair, wore a white top with ripped jeans and combat boot while I, for a change am wearing a normal t-shirt and pants.
"I'm going out gran" she shouted and closed the door. "Sup Carter? Missed me?" she asked and hugged me. I was shocked but hugged her back. "Sure, missed you sis. Traveling might be interesting, but it is also boring at times" I said as we broke the hug.
"Why are you stalling? Let's go meet dad Brainy Boy!" she exclaimed and rushed forward, as I groaned at her as I saw her tomboy side show up. "Ok. Race you to the cab. I want you to meet someone." I said.
Of course, I would like to say that I had won the race, but I had unfortunately lost by one dam second. "Well, well. Someone decides to show up with his sister uh?" Percy came up to us with a bag of popcorn.
"Hey Sade! Long-time no call I see" he said as Sadie gave him a confused look. "Who are you?" she asked. "Right. She doesn't seem to remember me" he grumbled. "That leaves me to do this the old way" he said.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands in front of Sadie, gaining her attention as he imitated tapping a boot, shooting a pistol and some other sound effects, he said "Cowboy Fish boy reporting mam."
Sadie looked stunned and a moment later, realising who he was, exclaimed "Percy? How are ya doing?" "I'm doing all well. Popcorn anyone?" he asked, and we shook our heads. He just shrugged and motioned us to go towards the cab.
As we neared the car, we could hear some parts of the argument like "Are you insane?" "Is this necessary?" "The Per Ankh is watching every move" "This is very important" and all such things. Sadie finally lost her control and rushed up to dad and hugged him.
"Alright kids, get back to the car and nice to meet you again Sadie. And Amos" he said, turning to the stranger he was arguing with "I will not budge from the plan. Good bye" he said and we all got into the car.
'That guy looked familiar' I thought, and I saw that Sadie had the same look on her face, but Percy had a look that said, 'I know something you don't'. "Now let's all head to the British Museum!" dad exclaimed as Sadie groaned.
<Julius P.O.V>
Before moving on with the story. I will let you have a small sneak peek on what happened before we left to the museum.
Flash back to the morning
I had just woken up when Percy knocked on the door and came in. "What is the matter Percy?" I asked, asking him to sit down.
He looked at me and said "Whatever your plan is, please be careful while executing it as I had a dream about something which is going to happen sooner or later. And demigod dreams mostly come true." He said the dream to me and I nodded silently.
"You sure that was what you saw?" I asked him, and he nodded. "Better write up a will and keep it somewhere and tell me where it is. I will give it to whoever you ask to give it." He said and left not before warning me to be careful.
---------------------------------------Time Skip to the Argument--------------------------------------
Sometime after Carter had left to bring Sadie, Amos came towards me and asked "Why do you want to go on with the plan? It killed your wife and still you wish to go on with it?"
I looked at him and replied, "Because it is the only way to stop the crisis coming our way brother" yes you did guess it right. He is Amos Kane, brother of Gabriel and myself.
"What about your children Julius? Will you just abandon them?" he asked.
" They are protected Amos" I said. Seems like he had not seen Percy. Which reminds me... 'Percy? Where are you?' I asked through MM.
'On top of the car' he messaged me back, and I could see him laughing seeing us argue and eating popcorn. I mentally groaned at it and he chuckled.
'Percy, I have a job for you. Considering your offer to write a letter... more likely a will, I wrote 2, one for Amos, which contains some contents from what Gabe gave me and my own message. I didn't give away your secret in it though. And the second one is for you kids. They are in a secret compartment in my tool kit which only you can see. Please make sure you give it to them if I die." I said.
'Thank you for making me a delivery boy.' he said sarcastically and I laughed at his antics.
"Julius, the Per Ankh is watching over all your moves. They will surely stop you."
"Are you insane? Chaos will spread if this does not happen. This is necessary to follow the Path of the Gods now. And we continued arguing until Sadie came up to hug me.
"Alright kids, get back to the car and nice to meet you again Sadie. And Amos" he said, turning to the stranger he was arguing with "I will not budge from the plan. Good bye" he said and we all got into the car.
Flash back over
We were currently heading towards the British museum catching up with our life, when I spotted the Cleopatra's Needle. "Driver, stop here for a moment" I said and got down. The kids followed me there.
'This is where aunt Ruby died right?' Percy asked and I nodded. "Why did we stop here dad?" Sadie asked.
"I had to. After all, this was the last place I saw her right?" I mumbled. My children looked shocked. "Time out. Are you talking about mom?" asked Carter and I nodded again.
The kids froze up again. "So, you mean that, all this while I passed this place, mom had died here?" asked my daughter.
I ignored it and asked, "You still have the cat Sadie?" I know that it is irrelevant but is important. "Of course! I have your parting gift dad" she said.
"And the amulets?" I asked, and Carter showed his Eye of Horus amulet as Sadie showed her Isis amulet. Percy also showed the Nephthys amulet I had given him before he left to camp.
"Good. Now let's go." I said spotting other magicians trying to track us. We all rushed towards the museum. As we got out, Carter asked "What were those flashes dad? How did mom die?"
I turned to my children and said "I will explain everything to you after tonight. But for now, I need you to stay patient and listen to me ok? I am going to make everything alright. Now act normal" I said as we passed a guard.
The curator came up to me and said "It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Kane. Your last work on Imhotep was great" he said as I muttered thanks. "These are my daughter, my son and my nephew. Now please lead the way" I said and he went ahead, leading us to the Egyptian section.
""So," I said, "the stone."
"Yes!" the curator said. "Though I can't imagine what new information you could glean from it. It's been studied to death—our most famous artifact, of course."
"Of course," I said. "But you may be surprised."
We turned left into the Egyptian wing. The walls were lined with massive statues of the pharaohs and gods, but my I bypassed them all and went straight for the main attraction in the middle of the room.
"Beautiful," I murmured. "And it's not a replica?"
"No, no," the curator promised. "We don't always keep the actual stone on display, but for you—this is quite real."
"The Rosetta Stone," I said, seeing Carter racking up his brain on what it was.
"Isn't that a computer program?" Sadie asked.
Before I could explain, the curator said with a nervous laugh. "Young lady, the Rosetta Stone was the key to deciphering hieroglyphics! It was discovered by Napoleon's army in 1799 and—"
"Oh, right," Sadie said. "I remember now."
I knew she was just saying that to shut him up, but I didn't let it go.
"Sadie," I said, "until this stone was discovered, regular mortals...er, I mean, no one had been able to read hieroglyphics for centuries. The written language of Egypt had been completely forgotten. Then an Englishman named Thomas Young proved that the Rosetta Stone's three languages all conveyed the same message. A Frenchman named Champollion took up the work and cracked the code of hieroglyphics."
Sadie chewed her gum, unimpressed. "What's it say, then?"
I shrugged. "Nothing important. It's basically a thank-you letter from some priests to King Ptolemy V. When it was first carved, the stone was no big deal. But over the centuries...over the centuries it has become a powerful symbol. Perhaps the most important connection between Ancient Egypt and the modern world. I was a fool not to realize its potential sooner."
I looked up seeing that no one except Percy seemed to be interested or was thinking I was crazy.
"Dr. Kane?" he asked. "Are you quite all right?"
I sighed and said "My apologies, Dr. Martin. I was just...thinking aloud. If 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 code into a small remote control, and the front of the glass box clicked open.
"It will take a few minutes to retrieve the notes," Dr. Martin said. "For anyone else, I would hesitate to grant unguarded access to the stone, as you've requested. I trust you'll be careful."
He glanced at the kids like they were troublemakers which mostly they were. "We'll be careful," I promised.
As soon as Dr. Martin's steps receded, I turned to them frantically. "Children, this is very important. You have to stay out of this room."
I took my workbag out and unzipped it just enough to pull out a bike chain and padlock. "Follow Dr. Martin. You'll find his office at the end of the Great Court on the left. There's only one entrance. Once he's inside, wrap this around the door handles and lock it tight. We need to delay him."
"You want us to lock him in?" Sadie asked, suddenly interested. "Brilliant!"
"Dad," Carter asked said, "what's going on?"
"We don't have time for explanations," he said. "This will be our only chance. They're coming."
"Who is coming and why dad?" asked Carter. "I'm sorry but we must hurry right now. And whatever happens, do not come to this room." I said. The two of them nodded and left, leaving Percy behind.
"This is about the plan. Right?" he asked quietly. "Yes Percy. Be careful and tell them what I said to you if I don't make it out alive" I said and went inside again as Percy stood outside. Even though I knew the consequences, I went in, thinking i was perpared, but never thought the outcome will be dangerous than expected.
A/N: So there you go the 5th chapter. Any criticism and and comments accepted. Thank you to all my reader for supporting and encouraging me to write the book. I hope this compensates the long time I took to update the book. (Borrowed a few lines from the original book if you had noticed)
And I would also like to say I won't be updating very regularly as I have my exams coming up in next week so... I will be a bit busy studying and might start updating from on or before December 22nd. I plan on updating both my books in alternate weeks so that I can concentrate on both the stories and my studies until my final exams (Even though I will try to update both the books whenever I can during holidays)
Before signing out though.... please comment on who do you want to pair Carter and Sadie with (I was planning Sadie X Nico or Sadie X Walt/Anubis. Any other suggestions also ok). It will be a Percy x Zia though ( as per @mnp1689's comment and I am trying something new) but there will be a small twist in the plot there.
Hope you all like the story!!
Rasnak signing out :) ;)
UPDATED ON DECEMBER 10