Wherever he stepped, fractures radiated outwards, cleaving through the layers of the magic realm. Still, we were both disturbed by the way Setne’s spell tore through the Mist. As for the Duat, it was always churning, sending up plumes of magic like sun flares into the mortal world. To her, the mortal world was a constantly changing wasteland, dotted with the carcasses of men and their civilizations. Her mind was as cold and dry as the desert night wind. She’d seen just about everything over the millennia. I was used to floating in the depths with endless thermal layers around me.Īlso, Nekhbet wasn’t easily impressed. Seeing the world in all its infinite levels was enough to give anybody vertigo.īut I’d been dropped into oceans before. The Mist was simply a Greek name for the uppermost layer between the worlds – the layer that Setne was now shredding. With Nekhbet in my mind, I knew the answer. She wondered whether the Egyptian Duat was somehow related to the Greek concept of Mist – the magical veil that kept mortals from recognizing gods and monsters. On the surface, where the mortal and immortal worlds met, Setne was whipping the Duat into a storm – churning waves of colour and frothy white plumes of smoke.Īfter Annabeth’s adventure on Rockaway Beach, she’d told me how frightening it was to see the Duat. I saw layers of reality, like strata of glowing multicoloured jelly, plunging down into infinity. Having her sight, I recognized the Duat – the magical dimension that existed beneath the mortal realm. I didn’t understand what I was looking at, but Nekhbet did. Bursts of light danced and bobbed around him, as if a thousand kids were writing their names with sparklers. He waved his stump conductor-style, chanting in Greek and Egyptian while fog rose at his feet. Having only one hand didn’t seem to bother him. He looked like Prince from one of my mom’s old album covers, and, judging from the magic lights swirling around him, Setne was getting ready to party like it was 1999 B.C.E. He strutted around the soccer field in black bell-bottomed slacks, a frilly white shirt and a glittery purple trench coat – all of which clashed with his newly combined red and white crown. Setne really could not decide on his wardrobe. ‘The sooner I get this goddess out of my head, the better,’ I said. However –’Īnother red flash illuminated the treetops. ‘I wish we had more time for you to get used to hosting a goddess. The taste of rotting jackal filled my mouth. ‘Stupid girl! Do not tell me –’ I forced my lips closed. ‘But if you have to choose,’ Sadie said, ‘smack her down and stay in control.’ You have to get in a rhythm with your partner.’ It’s kind of like running a three-legged race. Don’t let her take over, but don’t fight her, either. ‘I was talking to the vulture in my head.’Ĭarter walked a circle around me, frowning like I was an abstract sculpture. She has kicked my butt on more than one occasion. (For the record: I have my own healthy fear of Annabeth. The sight filled me with disdain and fear. The ‘Nekhbet’ part of me saw a young woman surrounded by a powerful ultraviolet aura – the mark of a Greek demigod. The ‘Percy’ part of me saw my usual awesome girlfriend. I was relieved that my voice still sounded like my voice. I raised my sword arm to make sure I could still control my muscles. I stared at my shoes … the same old pair of Brooks, yellow shoelace on the left, black shoelace on the right. I also had a burning desire to find a nice warm hyena carcass, stick my face right in there and –
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