The Rise of Chaos [ONGOING | UNEDITED]

1. Zia

We don't have much time to talk. We're being followed, so listen up. It's Zia Rashid here. We're on a tight schedule, so just shut up and sit still.

I woke up with a start. My clock showed three past five in the morning. Seriously? you ask. Yeah, seriously. I was three minutes past my usual time of waking up. Get used to it.

After a while, I swore I heard a soft knocking on the door. Stupidly, as stupidly as a Greek, I went downstairs, not knowing what was to come.

I wasn't eager to wake the others, so I crept silently down into the Great Room. The statue of Thoth glared down at me, willing me to go back. But however much he tried, I refused to back down.

No, Thoth, not right now. Please? I felt the statue's gaze upon me, angry and concerned, but I had to get the entrance. Just this one time. Just in case, I summoned my staff from the Duat before opening the front door.

A young girl with a silver moon circlet on her forehead met my eyes as soon as I looked up. Staff in hand, I raised it to her eye-level. Naturally, a practice round of incineration wouldn't be too bad, especially on a stranger.

'Who are you?' I demanded.

'I'm Thalia Grace. Daughter of Zeus,' she replied confidently.

There was a moment of pause. I was rather certain that Thalia expected all the breathe to be sucked out of my lungs and for me to kneel down, ready to do whatever she told me to do. Nothing of the sort happened, naturally.

'Am I meant to be impressed when you're almost a head shorter than me?' I snorted.

Thalia grew bright red, and didn't reply, saying, 'Who are you, then, if you're so amazing beyond comparison?'

'Zia Rashid, former host of Nephthys. One-time joint defeater of Apophis, holder of the secret name of Set. Eye of Ra, the sun god.'

'Wait, you mean Apollo? Apollo's the sun god, not whatever you're talking about. Or is this your petty remake version of the Greek gods?'

'I'd like to think that the Greeks copied the Egyptians,' I retorted. 'After all, they came after the Egyptians. Athena was an exact copy of the Egyptian-Canaanite goddess Anat, who was also the goddess of war and wisdom, amongst many other 'remake' examples. If you'd like me to list all of such instances, do tell me.'

Thalia stopped, growing even redder to a certain stage that I was sure she'd explode from embarrassment.

'Well?' I said. 'Why did you randomly come knocking up on my door?'

'Your door?' Thalia laughed. 'You look more like the broke, homeless kid who lost their parents to something flippant like getting eaten by a hippo.'

It was my turn to freeze. My parents' deaths weren't flippant.

'I've hit a soft spot, haven't I?' she went on.

'Shut up.'

'I have. You're impressed.'

I turned around and slapped Thalia, which silenced her good and fast. Gritting my teeth, I returned to my initial question.

'I'm not going to let you in unless if you tell me why you came knocking on my door.'

'The Greeks who live here know me, oh-so-great Zia Rashid. Thought I'd come by just to say hello, maybe stay here for a night or two. Until I met you.'

'And what's wrong with me?'

'You're not a demigod. And your eyes are creepy.'

'Ah, demigods.' I clapped my hands together in a mocking way. 'Demigods do this, demigods do that. Demigods complain about the fights they fight, demigods complain about how they don't want to be a demigod. Demigods complain about how magicians think they whine about anything that doesn't agree with them, demigods complain about the good and the bad and everything in between. If I were you, I'd be glad that Zia Rashid isn't a demigod. One less problem, after all.'

The problems of Olympus, I thought to myself bitterly.

Quietly, I led her up the stairs, still keeping my guard up, just in case. Thalia walked beside me, glancing at the Thoth statue as we passed it. My hair covered some of my face, which was a perfect opportunity. I saw Thalia through my black locks, glaring at her feet.

'Aren't you going to introduce me to everyone?' she asked as we arrived on the landing, pouting slightly.

'Alright.' I gave her a glare, and she stopped pouting immediately.

Ignoring Thalia as much as I could, I knocked quietly on Carter's door. He probably wasn't sleeping, so without waiting for a reply, I opened it. As usual, he was devouring a book while handily forgetting to turn the lights on.

I snapped my fingers together and the lights immediately flickered and shone, causing Carter to jump up in surprise.

'I like it dark,' he complained. 'It lets me focus on my book.' Then, Carter's eyes travelled from me to Thalia. 'Who's she?'

Thalia opened her mouth to give a lengthy and possibly egotistic introduction, but I held up a hand to stop her.

'Thalia Grace,' I said. 'Daughter of Zeus. Apparently, she knows the Greek kids. I'm not sure what she wants, but, according to her not-so-reliable sources, she just wants to come and meet her, ah, friends. I was just going to show her around a bit.'

'This is stupid,' Carter said, regretting it immediately. 'I mean, it's a great idea.' He turned to Thalia. 'Can I talk to Zia for a bit?'

'And eat her face as intently as you were reading the book while I wait here? Hell, no.'

'Oh, that's depressing,' I replied coldly. 'I was rather thinking that you'd be too eager to have a welcome-back threesome with Percy and Leo to do much else.'

And with that, I followed Carter out of the room, leaving a speechless Thalia behind.

'Don't you see this is absolutely idiotic?' he demanded as soon as we were out of earshot. 'A girl appears at the door way too early in the morning and claims that she knows the Greeks. Why do you trust her?'

'I don't.'

'Well, you shouldn't have let her in.'

'No, I should have. And I did.' I gave Carter a firm stare. 'Haven't you heard of the rumours? Of Apophis, coming back to get his revenge?'

'Apophis was execrated,' Carter argued back. 'You know that, don't you?'

I tutted quietly. 'I've got my own theories.'

'I'm enlightened. Let's hear them.'

'Not right now,' I said, waggling a finger in his face. 'Not when we've got an all-too-suspicious demigod in the house.'

Carter paused. 'Are you suggesting that Thalia is hosting Apophis?'

'Well, why not?' I grinned at him. 'Come on. We'd better make sure she hasn't yet killed someone, Carter.'