I stretched my cramped legs across the aisle and accidentally kicked Alyssa in the shin where she sat on the other side.

She jumped, "Ow!"

My face went red as everyone on the bus turned to look at us. A blond haired woman with a fake tan and way too much makeup from two aisles down glared at me and I muttered an apology to Alyssa.

"It's okay," she said, rubbing her shin. "Legs getting cramped?"

"You would think a bus would have a lot of room," I answered from the side of my mouth, eyeing the woman who continued to stare at me disapprovingly.

The corner of Alyssa's mouth quirked up and I felt myself grinning back like an idiot. I got a weird feeling in my stomach every time she smiled like that.

There was a loud huff from the direction of the woman and I resisted the urge to look at her. Seriously, what was her problem? I stared out the window and tried to ignore her.

We had been on the road for a day and a half and I was ready to climb the walls or yell for the driver to stop and walk the rest of the way to Memphis. Taking a bus had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now I wished I had suggested a plane.

When the driver pulled over at a rest area so everyone could take a break, Alyssa and I made a beeline for the door. I nearly tripped over the grouchy woman's feet which were suddenly in the way. "Sorry," I muttered even though it wasn't my fault and stepped outside into the fresh air. "Next time we take a plane," I said.

"How can you afford traveling like this?" Alyssa asked. She looked like she immediately regretted the question and hurried to add. "Never mind that's none of my business."

"No it's okay," I assured her. "My dad ¬ he's an acting agent. Agents are paid a lot, but he also inherited some rich uncle's fortune and that's made him the ninth wealthiest man in the world." I smiled bitterly. "He flaunts his money around and expects me to do the same. Let's just say I have a ridiculous amount of allowance that could feed a village in some third world country."

The spray-tanned woman came out of the bus at that moment and overheard me. Thumbing her nose up at me as she passed she muttered, "Ungrateful brat."

Alyssa and I looked at each and then burst out laughing. "Is that why you don't like talking about your parents?" she asked when we calmed down.

My smile disappeared.

"Sorry," she ducked her head, letting a curtain of brown hair hide her from view. "I shouldn't have asked that."

We walked to a picnic table located in the middle of the rest area in awkward silence. I knew it was now or never so I took a deep breath and said, "My parents are getting a divorce."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Alyssa's forehead wrinkled in concern.

I shrugged. "All that money and it couldn't save their marriage." Alyssa placed a comforting hand on my shoulder...it felt nice. "Sometimes –" the words stuck in my throat and I had to force myself to continue. "Sometimes, I wonder if I could have done something. Been a better son, done my chores without being asked." I trailed off wishing I could take back what I had said.

"It wasn't your fault," Alyssa assured me. "Whatever the reason that they are separating, it's not because of you." She gave me a reassuring hug and then pulled away.

"Yeah, well," I coughed in embarrassment. "So why Memphis, Tennessee of all places?" I asked eager to change the subject. "I mean, if a god is going to hang out somewhere why not a more exciting place?"

"Thoth is the god of knowledge," Alyssa reminded me. "And Memphis has one of the largest universities that teaches about the ancient Egyptian culture."

"Oh," I said feeling slow. "Yeah, I guess I can see why he would want to stay there."

"I hope we get there in time," Alyssa said. "Technically, the gods aren't allowed out of the Duat anymore. Thoth found a loop hole that would allow him to come back to his old home temporarily."

"Wait back up, what's the Duat?"

Alyssa wrinkled her nose in distaste. "It's really hard to explain. Maybe when we get back Sadie can teach you how to see in the Duat."

"Why can't you teach me?" I asked.

Alyssa shook her head vigorously. "No way. I'm terrified of that place. I prefer to keep my feet on solid ground."

I shook my head. "I used to think I knew so much about mythology in general. Every day I spend with you all makes me realize I know next to nothing."

She smiled encouragingly at me. "You'll become a pro in no time."

I snorted disbelievingly. "Doesn't this all seem surreal to you?" I finally voiced the question I had been asking myself since I met Carter and Sadie. "One minute I'm an average kid and the next I find out I'm a Magician. Stuff like this only happens in books and movies."

Alyssa nodded. "I know what you mean. I felt the same way when I first learned about the gods and magic. It's a lot to take in at first and then you become used to crazy stuff happening on a daily basis." She grinned mischievously. "In fact you become worried if crazy things aren't happening."

I stared at her wondering if she were pulling my leg. "I still don't get the path of the gods. How do you know which god to follow? I mean, what if you're a jack-of-all-trades and have no special skills?" That was another question that had been bothering me for awhile. I had been next to useless in that battle yesterday and so far seemed to show promise in accidentally exploding things. Did that mean I followed the god of accidents?

"Sometimes it's not obvious which god we have an affinity for at first," Alyssa was saying. "I knew early in my training that I wanted to follow Geb because I come from a family of potters and I accidentally did earth magic the first time I was in Magical Problem-Solving 101. For others, it's not always easy. Take Felix for example. When he first came he showed promise in all sorts of magic, though he never liked using it and preferred to be creative with how he dealt with problems. And then last year he started doing ice magic. We're not sure which god he's channeling although Carter suspects there might be more Egyptian gods than we know since so much of their earlier history is unknown to us."

She stared thoughtfully over my shoulder for a few seconds before focusing on me again. "Also, there's Sympathetic Magic. Cleo channels Thoth through sympathetic magic using her desire for knowledge as a connection between them. You're still new to this so it might take you awhile to figure out which god to follow, but trust me when I say that you'll know, you just have to let your natural gifts come out. Does that help?"

I wasn't sure it did. Basically she was telling me to be patient and that was something I had never been good at. "I guess."

The bus driver honked to let us know it was time to leave and we merged with the crowd to get back on the bus.

Hours later we were standing outside the University of Memphis. "Um, this is where Thoth lives?" I said.

"Not anymore," Alyssa answered. "He used to live here until all the gods relocated to the Duat."

"Then what is he doing here?"

"Apparently he forgot some super secret project of his and used a loophole to get out of the Duat for a few days. I hope he's still here or we'll have to travel through the Duat to find him," she shuddered at the idea.

Alyssa led the way to a deserted building that looked like it hadn't been used in a few years. The empty classrooms were eerie without the hustle and bustle of students to fill the void. We climbed up a few stairs before coming to a closed office marked Dr. Thoth. Both T's in the name had drooped pathetically to go with the rest of the building.

Strands of an out of tune electric guitar were being strum inside the office and Alyssa wrinkled her nose. "Sounds like he still here." She pushed the door open after knocking to announce our presence. I'm not sure what I was expecting a god to look like; maybe a being that resembled the majestic and noble statues depicted of the Greek gods. Instead, a nerdy professor with wild blond hair and a dirty lab coat sat reclined in a chair that had been left in the enormous room with empty bookshelves and worktables. A winding stairwell led to an equally empty loft above us.

He glanced at us with a frown, his mesmerizing kaleidoscope eyes captured mine for a few seconds before he looked down again at the guitar. "You two were not what I was expecting. I suppose with the Twenty-First Nome under attack, Carter and Sadie Kane couldn't make it."

"You know that we're under attack?" Alyssa said in amazement.

Thoth waved his hand in the air imperiously before strumming some more on the guitar. I winced and had to use all all my willpower to not grab it from him and tune it properly. "I think just about everyone in the Duat can feel the magical battle raging. In fact," he tilted his head to the side. "There's a battle going on right now."

"Can you help us?" she pleaded.

Thoth shook his head regretfully. "Regretfully, I can not. The only way I can help directly is if a magician is willing to channel my power." He continued to strum the guitar and hummed a tuneless song for a few seconds before he looked up at us again with a slight smile. "After finding my electric guitar, which I accidentally left behind, I waited here long enough for you two to get here."

"Wait, so your super secret project is an electrical guitar?" I blurted out.

Once again his weird eyes fell on me and I half wished I had kept my mouth shut. "Of course! Music, especially blues music is a powerful form of magic. I'm in the middle of a complex thesis proving the theory and I must have this guitar to help me complete it." His face darkened. "Unfortunately, my favorite guitar was destroyed along with my pyramid so this one will have to do." He sighed as he looked down at it. "The damp and the cold has made it horribly out of tune."

I stared at Alyssa and tried to communicate through waggling eyebrows that this god was a nutjob. She bit her lip and looked away. "Sorry about your guitar, man." I was unsure what else to say to a lunatic who thought music was magic. "Listen, we found this partial scroll from The Book of Future Prophecies and we really need to find the second half of it to prevent some demon child from learning his true name because...well, actually I'm not sure what will happen which is why we need the second half of that scroll." I quickly gave him a rundown of the two dreams I had about Amenemhat.

Thoth gave me a puzzled look and absently brushed at a smudge on his lab coat. I blinked and did a double take when the smudge moved. It took me a moment to realize it was a word in ancient Greek. In fact, all the smudges were words in various languages. "How odd," Thoth was saying as he stared at me thoughtfully.

"What's odd?" Alyssa asked.

"I remember Amenemhat, son of Thutmose III. I was the one who created the spell that warded his chamber. It was meant to last until the end of days and was warded against all magicians and mortals alike to prevent them disturbing the chamber and keep the demon sealed in. If your story is true you waltzed in without even realizing it was warded and broke the wards." He frowned as he peered closely at me.

"So this is all my fault?" Deep down I had known that I had accidentally set the demon child free, but hearing it confirmed made me feel like the biggest failure in the universe.

Alyssa placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "It's not your fault, Jake."

I shrugged her hand off. "Do you have the scroll or not?" That came out ruder than I meant and inwardly winced, praying he wouldn't turn me into a bug and squash me.

Thoth carelessly strummed the guitar making it sound like a drowning cat dying. "I don't."

Alyssa deflated. "Do you know where it is?"

"It's at the Metropolitan Museum of Art," Thoth continued strumming the guitar and I clenched my teeth, trying to block out the horrible sound. "I would hurry if I were you. There's not much time."

I couldn't take the noise anymore and yanked the electric guitar out of Thoth's hands and quickly tuned it up. I strummed through a few cords to make sure everything was tuned properly before handing it back to him.

"Thank you!" the god beamed and played a slightly off key rendition of Cow Town. For a god who was supposed to be smart he sure didn't seem to understand the concept of good music. "I'm afraid I have lingered here too long and must return to the Duat," he regretfully placed the electric guitar in a case.

"Wait, that's it?" I exclaimed. "All you're going to tell us is that it's in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Couldn't you zap us there to save time or even help Carter and Sadie with the rogue magicians?"

Thoth cocked his head to the side as he studied me. "If I linger any longer Horus will come looking for me and that exchange won't be pleasant." He hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose I could zap you to the museum as you put it, but you'll have to find your own way back after that." He held up his fingers like he was going to snap them before changing his mind. He frowned at me like I was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. "You should tread carefully, Jake. There is something familiar about you that I can't put my finger on."

With those last ominous words, Thoth snapped his fingers and a swirl of gray smoke enveloped Alyssa and me. Several seconds later, the smoke dissipated and we found ourselves standing in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"That was interesting," Alyssa said with a frown. "Most gods aren't usually so accommodating unless they want something in return."

"Maybe he'll collect later," I said, trying to shake off my disappointment. Meeting a god for the first time hadn't gone quite like I expected.

"Maybe," Alyssa replied, still frowning.

I was about to suggest we take a look inside to find the other half of the scroll when there was a sudden commotion. We heard a girl yelling at the top of her lungs: "IAN FOLCHER I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Two teenagers around my age came running around the corner of the museum wearing orange t-shirts with Camp Half Blood printed on the fronts. Ian had a slender face, slightly pointed ears, and messy hair that rivaled mine. His grin was mischievous as he glanced over his shoulder at the girl pursuing him.

The girl had straight blond hair and blue eyes that narrowed angrily at Ian and I had the feeling he would be in trouble if she caught up with him. She was definitely one of those athletic types that could run circles around me and possibly Ian.

That wasn't the strangest thing about the scene though. Right behind the girl, a three legged table was in hot pursuit. Even though it was a piece of furniture and had no facial features, I got the feeling it was very annoyed with them. The three of them ran down the street and disappeared from view.

"You saw that right?" I asked.

"Yes," Alyssa sounded just as dazed me.

"Oh, good, for a second there I thought I was hallucinating."

"We – should go," she said hesitantly.

"Right," I tried to shake off that bizarre scene and focus back on our mission. We entered the museum and I paid for our entrance fee. We consulted a map for several minutes to find the Egyptian section and made our way there.

We hurried as quickly as we could, paying special attention to any mentions of scrolls or writing. Just as I was beginning to wonder if Thoth had sent us on a wild goose chase, Alyssa let out an excited yell. "Found it!"

I rushed over to the display she was staring at to see the second half of the torn scroll. The plaque beneath it pronounced that it was a partial piece of an ancient prophecy dating back to before the fall of Egypt. "Great!" I said enthusiastically. "Now how do we take this back with us without getting arrested?"

Alyssa gave me a grim look. "I have an idea, but you're not going to like it."

Author's Note: Sorry about being gone so long everyone. I've been too busy working on an original work of my own and kind of abandoned my fanfics in the process. I can't believe I last updated this story in 2015. Wow, where has the time gone. I actually wrote this chapter a long time ago and its been languishing in one of my files waiting for me to edit it. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I will do my best to finish up this story within the next couple of months.

The two characters from Camp Half Blood are of my own creation and I'm in the process of writing their own story. If you're curious to know why the blond haired girl was chasing Ian head over to my profile and follow the story, The Ian Folcher Chronicles: The Hunt for the Cerynitian Hind. So far there is only one chapter because I became too busy with my original work to continue any of my fanfics, but I'm back and I'm going to try my best to start posting more regularly.

Thanks once again for all you patience and support over the years. It means a lot to me.