After Bast left, Percy and Carter quickly gathered the things that had been left behind when the House of Life freaks kidnapped their kinsmen. Carter saw Percy looking sadly at Nico's aviator jacket as the older boy picked it up. Then Percy glanced up and saw Carter watching him.

"I should have left it on him last night," he said regretfully, before Carter could look away, embarrassed. "I knew he gets cold easily."

"You couldn't have known he'd be abducted right out of his bed," pointed out Carter.

Percy didn't look comforted. He reached into one of the pockets and pulled out Nico's black switchblade. "Now he doesn't even have his weapon. Unless . . ." Percy tossed the knife (still folded) across the room. It hit the wall then slid down between the wall and the bed.

"What did you do that for?" Carter asked and went to retrieve it, but it wasn't there. He knelt down and looked under the bed but didn't see it there either. Confused, he looked back at Percy who was checking the jacket pockets again.

"It didn't come back here," he said, smiling, then saw Carter's bemused expression. "It's a magic weapon," he explained. "It always returns to its owner, unless its owner deliberately leaves it somewhere, like in the pocket of their jeans that they put in their locker during gym." He made a face which led Carter to think Percy had once done just that, and then, for whatever reason, found himself needing a sword during gym class. "But they can't be lost or stolen. If someone else moves it, as soon as it's out of their sight it usually returns to its owner. So hopefully it's back with Nico now."

"Hopefully," agreed Carter. He felt a pang when he packed up Sadie's combat boots but pushed his worries aside. "You ready?"

Percy nodded. "Let's go."

They left the motel on foot, walking quickly and keeping an eye out for anyone who might have been following them. The river wasn't exactly close, but wasn't far enough away to call a cab to take them there. The time they probably would have had to wait for one would have made it about as long as it took for them to walk there. Plus a taxi would have been too easy for someone to follow.

"Do you have some sort of magical means of summoning a boat?" asked Percy as they approached the river. "Or should I take care of that?"

Carter was surprised. "You know how to hotwire a boat?"

"Not hotwire. Just control them. My dad's the patron god of sailors."

"Oh. Well you don't need to," Carter assured him. "I've got it covered." He paused to take stock of his magic kit.

Percy kept walking right down the river bank. Abruptly, he drew up short and went rigid with surprise.

"What's wrong?" asked Carter when he noticed this. He started to step forward again, but Percy raised a hand sharply, motioning him to stay back.

"Dad?" he asked loudly, looking down at the surface of the water where his reflection should have been. Carter had the feeling that it was for his benefit that Percy had raised his voice, not because the sea god was hard of hearing.

"Percy," said a voice from the river, presumably Poseidon. Carter was surprised by the voice. Poseidon sounded friendly, like he was a nice guy. From what he remembered from the myths, the guy wasn't always that great. But maybe he put on a good face around his children. There was definitely some concern in his voice. "You're safe. I'm glad."

"Why wouldn't I be safe?" asked Percy.

"It's . . . a complicated answer." Suddenly the voice got sharp. "Percy, what are you doing in Memphis?"

"Uh, I was, uh . . . field trip." Percy obviously wasn't a very good liar.

"A field trip?" Poseidon was definitely suspicious now.

"Yeah . . . but my ADHD kicked in and I had to get out of there. Graceland, I mean. Big mansion made of limestone. Twenty-three rooms. Temple of the Winds columns on the front porch. You know, the place where Elvis lived?"

"The abominable son of Apollo?"

"Yeah, him!" Percy seized the opportunity and actually started to fall into his part. "Couldn't stand to listen to another one of his songs. So I slipped away from the rest of the class. I needed to get to some water so I could think, and get those stupid songs out of my head."

"Oh." It sounded like Poseidon bought it. "Percy, I must ask you to leave Memphis immediately."

"What? Why?"

"I'm sorry about ending your field trip, but Memphis is not safe right now. There are . . . other forces at work. Things you will not have heard of before. They have been inactive so long that I don't think they're even covered in the Camp Halfblood curriculum, but recently they've been rising and gaining more power. Memphis is particularly bad because of all the . . . never mind, that's not important right now."

"Dad . . ." Percy sounded very uncertain.

"It would be best if you returned to New York. They don't hold as much sway there, but still, stay on alert. Avoid Central Park and any museum with ancient history exhibits. It would actually probably be best if you went to Camp Halfblood."

"Dad, what's going on?" asked Percy, like he didn't already know. Or maybe he really didn't know, and was still putting the puzzle together. Everything had fallen into place for Carter immediately; Poseidon was trying to get his son to avoid anything with Egyptian influence, and wanted him amongst his own kind because he'd come to the conclusion that the House of Life was a threat to demigods.

Or . . . a horrible thought occurred to Carter. Or he thinks that it's the Egyptian gods that are the danger. If the House of Life already turned over Nico and Hades knows Anubis is possessing him. But where does that leave Sadie? Would she have been spared? Does the House of Life have her, or did they, or Hades kill her? No. They couldn't have killed her. Carter couldn't believe that.

"Percy," said Poseidon in a gentle voice, like waves lapping on sandy white shores, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this but . . ."

Carter could feel his heart pounding against his ribs. Was Poseidon pausing? Why was he pausing? Did he really have to draw out the suspense? What was he going to tell Percy? That the Greeks were going to war with the House of Life or the Egyptian pantheon?

"Dad, what is it?" Percy's voice sounded like he was fighting down hysteria brought on by the suspense as well.

"Your friend Nico . . . he has been abducted by the House of Life. They are a sort of . . . cult that once followed the gods of Egypt."

Percy relaxed slightly, Carter saw, but not enough to cause suspicion.

"After Egypt was conquered by Rome they declared war on their gods and hunted them down."

"And now they have Nico," said Percy grimly. The barely veiled fear and blatant concern weren't an act.

"I'm sorry. I know you two were friends."

"Were?" asked Percy in alarm. "What do you mean were?"

"His death has not been confirmed," Poseidon said hastily. "He might yet be alive. Hades has given the House of Life a set time to return his son. If Nico has been killed by them or their gods, or if they refuse to return him, then our pantheon is going to war."

"That . . . would be bad." Coming up with intelligent answers while under pressure didn't seem to be Percy's strongest suit.

"Very bad, for them." Poseidon's voice grew cold, like an arctic undertow. "We are stronger than we have ever been before. The war that you helped us win, and the gift that you demanded from us gods as your reward has actually made us more powerful than we ever knew we could be."

"What? Oh." Percy seemed to figure out whatever confused him. "Hero worship," he said in a somewhat rueful voice. "Literal hero worship." His laugh was tainted with worry. "All kids love their parents . . . or at least, deep down, they want to. Now that they know who they are . . ."

Carter didn't exactly follow what was going on but he wasn't in a good position to ask questions. He was pretty sure that if Poseidon saw him, he would be taken as a member of the House of Life and probably smote down on site.

"Yes . . ." Poseidon sounded a bit awkward. "In return, we are trying to do our best to protect you, all of you, where we can. This threat from the Egyptians will not be let go. There will be no more attempts at taking demigods as hosts for their parasite pantheon." His voice rose in anger, an emotion he was definitely more comfortable with.

"Err . . ."

"Of course," Poseidon settled down. "You do not know the details. I will arrange to have some scrolls sent to you, that will tell you what you need to know of our enemies. Don't worry, you'll be able to read them. They'll be in Ancient Greek."

"Okay . . ."

"And I promise you that I will do everything in my power to save your friend, and that if it is too late for him, he shall be avenged."

"Uh . . . thanks."

"Go now," ordered Poseidon. "Return to camp. It is probably the safest place for demigods right now, but even there do not let your guard down. If war is upon us they may try to strike you there. Be ready. And be careful."

"Yes, my lord." Percy bowed, which seemed weird to Carter. Bowing to his own father. A moment later he straightened and turned to Carter. "Did you get all that?" he asked, moving away from the water.

"Yeah . . ."

"The House of Life hasn't turned over Nico yet. Hades doesn't know he's possessed yet. There's still time to save him and Sadie."

"But then what?" asked Carter. "I don't see any way out of this. Either we get Nico and Sadie back, and Hades declares war on the House of Life, or we don't get them back, Hades realizes what Nico is, Sadie almost certainly dies, and Hades declares war on the Egyptian pantheon. I don't see any way to stop this. There's no third choice. No way to separate Nico and Anubis, no way to trick Hades into not realizing he's possessed, no way to stop him from starting a war -"

"Nico did have some sort of plan," Percy reminded him.

"What? He did? What plan?"

"He didn't say," said Percy. "He just mentioned there was one thing that he could think of, but that it was ridiculous or something like that. The last time he came up with a plan like that . . . well it was really rocky, but it ended up saving the entire world. Whatever he's thought up this time, it might be our only option."

"You're really going to have to tell me about this sometime," said Carter. "It sounds like you guys have done all kinds of cool, heroic stuff."

"I guess," said Percy, "but we're running out of time to save your sister and my cousin, so that'll have to wait. Come on."

------------------------------------------------------

The spell that Carter cast made Percy seasick; something Percy had thought that he was completely immune to. Or maybe, he told himself, it was motion-sickness rather than seasickness. Or magic-sickness. Yes, that had to be it. The sea god's son wouldn't get seasick.

But the spell made his head spin, and made him feel like throwing up. The water beneath their boat was the only constant. Everything else blurred into everything else. Percy saw half the world pass them by, or maybe that was just a hallucination brought on by the magic. Whatever it was, he decided that Greek and Egyptian powers really should not be mixed.

"Are you okay?" asked Carter once all the trippy images disappeared and a desert scene took their place. "You look kind of green."

"That spell is not good," answered Percy, kneading his face with the heels of his hands. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"Err, sorry," apologized Carter. "I thought you'd be okay traveling like this."

"I'm just glad we didn't go the other way," groaned Percy. "I probably would end up diffused into molecules and spread across the globe, and I doubt my invulnerability would have made a bit of difference."

"Invulnerability?"

"Long story." Percy kept his eyes covered and tried to will his nausea way. He needed a focus, something to give him a purpose and a definite reason to drive the sickness away. In his mind he tried to picture Nico. His cousin was the priority. That's why he was here. Focus, he told himself. My cousin needs saving.

"Someday, if we make it through this, and if you're allowed, I really do want to hear all these stories," Carter told him. "I've heard you and Nico reference a lot of different things and it sounds like . . . well, like you guys really are heroes."

"We try," Percy told him. He opened his eyes and forced himself to look around. The desert scene was still in place, which meant they had probably arrived in Egypt. I'm on the Nile . . . I never thought I'd ever visit this place, yet here I am, in a magic boat, disobeying a direct order from my father, trying to stop a war between the gods, again, and find a son of Hades before that damn kidnapping cult ransoms him back to his father. Damn you Fates!

He sighed. "We're taking a different way home, by the way," he told Carter. "I miss Nico and his shadow traveling."

"We'll get him back." Carter's eyes were hard with determination now. "Both of them. We have to."

"We will." Percy shook his head to try to clear the last remnants of nausea. A familiar figure came into focus when he finally stopped. "Over there," he told Carter. "Looks like we have a welcoming party."

Bast stood on the river bank, dressed in some sort of robe that looked like appropriate garb for the desert, that would hopefully help her blend in. Percy was just going to have to hope that tourists were popular in the First Nome because he was pretty sure his jeans and bright orange t-shirt were going to stand out.

"I've found where they're keeping them," Bast told Percy and Carter as soon as their boat was within speaking range. "I couldn't get into the building but they're definitely inside. But security is tight. Sneaking in will be difficult. Forcing our way in would probably be impossible."

"What if we shape-shift?" Carter asked. "At least you and me. Maybe we could turn Percy into something too. Nothing bad," he added hastily, when he saw the look Percy gave him. "A bird like I'm planning to be. Or a fruit bat. I've turned people into fruit bats before."

"You're not turning me into a rodent," growled Percy. "I don't even think it would work on me."

"Demigods can be transfigured," Bast told him.

"I know." Percy remembered the guinea pig incident quite clearly, but he didn't think shape-shifting spells would work on him anymore since he had the Curse of Achilles. He was invulnerable to just about everything now. But he wasn't quite ready to share that with his new allies. "I'm a little bit different," was all he told them. "There's a lot of offensive magic that won't work on me."

He tried to think of some way he could contribute, but kept coming up with blanks.

"I'll get you to the building," said Bast. "You can take a look at it. Maybe you'll be able to figure out something once you've seen it."

It was the only plan they had, so Percy nodded. Hopefully there would be something he could use to his advantage there . . . anything . . . He refused to give up. Loyalty to his friends may have been his fatal flaw, but it hadn't killed him yet, and it had saved his friends quite a few times, so he'd take it. If it was a flaw then it wasn't a bad one to have at all.

----------------------------------------------------

Time passed. Nico wasn't sure how much. It was all kind of blurry, but later he had a vague recollection of Sadie waking him and making him put food in his mouth, or shoving it in there for him when he wasn't awake enough to feed himself.

What he would remember most was the warmth though. Their cell wasn't cold, but it was cool, like a cave or a crypt. Nico always felt chilled now, except on the hottest days of summer. He dealt with it by wearing a jacket, did his best to ignore it when it was too inconvenient, and had gotten used to it to the point where it only bothered him when he was weakened and exhausted. At those times it made it hard for him to rest, while his body shivered in a vain attempt to warm itself. But in that cell, even without his jacket, the chill stayed at bay. Sadie kept an arm flung over him and curled up close by his side, keeping him warm.

Slowly, awareness set in and Nico woke up enough to realize he was awake. He felt strong again. Not as strong as he usually was, but well enough to fight. "Sadie?"

Sadie, who must have been napping too, opened her eyes. "Huh? Oh, hey. Feeling any better yet, Death Boy?"

"Yes." Nico detached himself from her and sat up.

Welcome back, said Anubis in his head.

Was I asleep for long?

Long enough. You remember everything that happened?

Yeah. You know I do. Nico turned to Sadie who was trying to finger-comb her hair. "You got that collar off me," he said to her. "You saved me."

"I guess we're even now," said Sadie, "for that concussion I gave you when we first met."

Nico flexed his fingers then rotated his shoulders, making sure everything was still in working order. "Jailbreak time?" he asked.

"I was waiting until you woke up to come up with a plan," Sadie told him. "Mainly because I have no ideas, so that was just a convenient excuse."

"Plan?" asked Nico. "We need a plan?"

Plans are generally a good idea, Anubis said to him.

"Yeah, a plan," said Sadie. "First for getting out of this cell, then for getting out of the building. I've thought about one of us pretending to be sick, and then both of us attacking whoever checks on us, but so far all the guards who've come by are shabti-"

"What?"

"Shabti . . . fake people created by magic to be servants," explained Sadie. "Or to do a specific task. In this case, to keep us in this cell. They've brought food twice but haven't responded to anything I've said."

"How hard are they to kill?" Nico wanted to know.

"If they're made by someone skilled then they're not pushovers. And these were made by someone skilled. Don't you know you're the House of Life's public enemy number one now?" Sadie smirked. "That spot used to be occupied by moi. Carter was number two."

Nico sighed, wishing that he had his jacket. He'd left his sword in its pocket, in switchblade form. Pretty sure that it was just wishful thinking, he put his hands in his jeans pockets, checking just to make sure. Then his eyes widened as he realized that somehow, someway, his switchblade had returned to him. He pulled it out of his pocket and gave his most devious grin. "Time to see how shabtis like Stygian Iron."

"Unless that thing can cut through regular iron it's not going to do us much good," said Sadie. "We're stuck in here."

Anubis, on the other hand, saw Nico's intents in his thoughts and voiced his approval. Clever. A bit reckless, but you have no other options.

"We're not stuck in here," Nico told her. He opened his switchblade, turning it into its sword form, and then put his hand against the blade. "By the way, don't ever touch my weapons," he warned his new friend. "Only children of the underworld can stand being cut by Stygian Iron. Everyone else, it devours their life force." Then he pressed his hand against the blade harder and moved it along the razored edge, opening a good sized gash in his palm.

"What are you doing?" asked Sadie. Then, as black blood welled up in his palm she smacked her own forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Nico slicked his blood against the bottom of one of the iron bars of their cell, then glanced at Sadie. "Do you have a weapon?"

"No." Sadie scowled. "They took my entire kit. Damn klepto House of Life freaks."

Nico reached above his head and smeared his blood higher up on the bar then waited for it to melt through the iron. It didn't take long. Less than half a minute later he was able to pull it free, with his uncut hand. He held it out to Sadie. "Now you have a metal stick."

"Gee, Nico," said Sadie, accepting the weapon, "you sure know how to charm a girl."

"Will that work as a staff?" he asked. "If it's too heavy I can burn it in half."

"No, it's fine," Sadie assured him. "Let's get out of here."

Nico started to step through the gap made by the missing bar, but Sadie shoved past him with a smirk.

"Ladies first," she said.

Nico opened his mouth to reply but before he could say anything shouts echoed from above. Nico would have sworn that he heard a sound like roaring waves. He and Sadie looked at each other.

"Trouble?" she asked.

Sounds like it, Anubis said.

"I think so," Nico agreed.

"Well then," Sadie smiled in a very bloodthirsty way. "Let's make it double."

"Is now really the time to be making up nursery rhymes?" Nico asked, stepping out of the cell and starting down the hall. He got past Sadie while she was off guard and took the lead.

"Don't think I won't give you another concussion, Death Boy," threatened Sadie as she ran behind him.

They reached the first set of shabti whose backs were turned to them. One slice of Nico's Stygian Iron blade took off both their heads. A second slice went through one's elbow, then into its chest, then through its other elbow, severing both arms as well as its torso. Meanwhile Sadie smashed her metal stick into the other one. Hieroglyphics glowed in the air around her and the rest of the headless shabti turned to dust.

"Not pushovers?" Nico asked Sadie as he walked over top of the Shabti he'd taken down. It crunched like clods of dirt under his stocking clad feet. He turned the corner and drew up short. Blocking the hall in front of them were no less than a dozen more of shabti.

"Great job, Death Boy," groused Sadie. "You know it's because you said that, that they're here."

"Good." Nico raised his sword again. "I feel like destroying something else."

And he really did. The past week was starting to catch up with him. All the pain and fear that had worn him down, all the worrying, and the stress, and frustration. He needed an outlet for it. Destroying a bunch of clay dolls seemed like a good start. Fueled by his emotions, he surged forward.

"What? Hey! You can't just charge -" Sadie's protest died as she saw that Nico could just charge into a dozen shabti and start cutting them up like cabbages. He was the son of Hades. When he was able to put up a fight, he made sure to put up a hell of a fight, and as the son of one of the Big Three, that came quite naturally to him.

Iron sliced, shabti crumbled and exploded in showers of hieroglyphics as Sadie joined the fight. Minutes later all of the shabti were in ruins and a thin layer of sweat coated Nico's brow. He wiped it away quickly before Sadie could see, but Anubis, in his head, was not so easy to hide it from.

Don't overdo it, Nico, the death god cautioned him.

I won't, Nico thought back. I'm fine now.

You are not.

Am too.

Are not.

Am too!

"Well," said Sadie, "that was a nice workout." She pushed past Nico with a confident smile. "Shall we . . ." she trailed off as the sound of running footsteps was heard from around the next corner. A wicked smile crested her face as she raised her iron bar, then as the new attacker rounded the bend she swung it with all of her considerable strength.

She nailed Percy right in the head, and invulnerable he may have been, but the momentum was still great enough to slam him into the wall then bounce him right off it again, like a ball in a game of pool. He staggered as he got his balance back.

"Ohmygod!" Sadie said all three words so fast they might as well have been one. "Percy, I'm -"

"Oh, hi Percy," Nico spoke over Sadie casually, as though nothing had happened. He was the one wearing the wicked smile now. "What's going on?"