Archive of Our Own ^beta

…

Grabbing his pocket knife from his linen pants, he sliced into the tape, half expecting for it explode, or to turn him into a donkey that would explode.

 {Lots of curses, he’d learned, followed the same philosophy Sadie tended to approach things with blow things up, ask questions never.} 

Instead it simply sat there, as his hands hovered over it. He could feel something like a veil over his mind lift for a moment. Cater stared at the package now sitting on his bed, taking a step back. He had no clue what sort of magic could make him ignore how weird all this was, but now he was staring the consequences of his actions in the face. Face blank he wondered if it was worth it now to try to find someone to help. He tilted his head up to the ceiling. And in a fit of what he was sure he would later say was a temporary fit of madness, sent a prayer to Horus for protection. Then he pulled the box closer, and before he could back out opened it and shoved his hand into the box. Carters eyes were squeezed shut, bracing for... he wasn't quite sure. Pain maybe? For Horus to suddenly appear and tell him this was a test? Whatever it was he'd been bracing for didn't come to pass. So Carter opened his eyes, hand grabbing hold of what almost felt like- plastic.

Pulling whatever it was out of the box, Carter felt even more confused when he looked at it. It was the recording he and Sadie had made. Or at least somewhat. It had been spruced up, and placed in a case with artwork on the front. The confusion didn't last long when he finally began to study the cassette. His went wide, and his hands began to shake slightly. The case that cassette was stored in, now had a horrific rendition of the Red Pyramid, Set's Pyramid drawn in expert detail on the front. The picture was small but the longer he looked at it, the more he saw details that only he, Sadie, and Amos would know about the pyramid. He flipped the case over, suddenly desperate to not have to see the picture. On back of the case written in a papyrus script, 'The Red Pyramid, a recording staring Carter and Sadie Kane! With guest appearances from the gods , Horus, Isis, and Set!'

Carter flung the tape onto his bed, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants. "What the fuck!" he whisper-screamed to himself, voice cracking in the middle of the swear. He wanted to run away, from whatever this was. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his shirt beginning to stick to him with sweat. He tried to suck in air but, still felt light-headed. He flicked his gaze between the flung cassette sitting innocently on his bed, and the package on the edge of the same bed. Licking his lips he reached again for the package. 'There has to be some-sort of explanation for this! There has to be some sort of reason for that to be here!' Carter thought desperate for some sort of answer, wrenching open the box to search inside. As he scrambled onto the bed, knocking the cassette to the floor, grappling the package into his lap. The package looked like any other package on the inside. Sitting there in brown packaging paper were two more cassettes with similarly drawn covers on the cases. As well as an envelope. The envelope gleamed in nearly the same manner as the package it lay within. Covered in disappearing and reappearing hiroglyphs. Carter grasped for the envelope, tearing it open, to reveal a letter. It was written by someone he knew. He recognized this handwriting, it was Sadie's.

...

Carter had no clue anymore what was serious and what was a joke. All three cassettes now sat next to him on the bed. After reading the first page of the letter, he'd set it down and grabbed the remaining two cassettes out of the box, and snatched the first one of the floor. The first cassette remained face down, just catching a glimpse of it made Carter feel sick, like he was back at the pyramid itself, with the feeling of evil, true undeniable evil looming ahead. It felt like staring at Face of Horror and realizing Chaos itself was staring back. It was that same feeling that made Carter turn the third cassette around as well. It's cover had been a lot more confusing, it depicted a gleaming obelisk rising from an ever-shifting sea, that wasn't what had made Carter feel uneasy though, it was what lay beneath and behind the obelisk. There where the shadow of where the obelisk should've been was instead the shadow of a giant snake. Even in a still image he could feel how the shadow writhed, and shook in rage trying to get free of the pillar that trapped it. He'd only needed to look at for a minute before he knew that the letter had been telling the truth. 

There was no way to prevent what would come to pass. Unless they had some foresight. Unless someone who'd already thought up plans, and tested them out could share them. and if the letter was to be believed, then these tapes would do just that. Carter took one last look at his room. He had a feeling once he relayed everything to Sadie and the two of them recited the spell on the last page of the letter, that he wouldn't see this particular room for a while. Grabbing the folded up letter, and shoving it in his pocket. Carter made his way to his closet to grab his bag. He packed a couple changes of clothes, and a few things he didn't want to leave behind. The last thing he stuffed into the bag was the cassettes, if he remembered correctly, Sadie still had the cassette player in her room. Taking on more deep breath, Carter opened the door and stepped into the unknown.

...

...~~~~...

NEARLY TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LATER,

...~~~~...

Sadie descended the stairs to the sounds of an argument. Most of Brooklyn house was gathered in the main room, looking awkward and shuffling around, other than the littles who led by Shelby seemed to be making it their mission to tie peoples shoelaces together when they weren't looking. Made all the more impressive by the fact that at least half the magicians in the room didn't have shoes that had started out with shoelaces. Sadie glanced briefly at Shelby and her army of tiny mischief makers distracting one of the college-students, Mikel, as they somehow managed to give his shoes a tiny pair of wings. She quickly looked away deciding that the older kids of Brooklyn House could sort that out. Her priority was the spell and Carter first. She looked for Khufu in the crowd and found him hanging around the door to the library with some of the secondary-school aged magicians of Brooklyn House. That it seemed was where the sounds of loud arguing, and the occasional shout were coming from. She caught Khufu's eye and made her way over to them. Jazz was standing there next to the door with a grimace on her face. "How long has he been arguing with them?" Asked Sadie. "Not as long as you'd assume," Jazz said with what was most-likely meant to be a reassuring smile, but just looked like a wince. "Only for twenty minutes at most." Carter had contacted the parents of the students of Brooklyn House about their plans. 

They would all be leaving the twenty-first nome, and they would be unable to be reached at least while the spell was active. From what Sadie could decipher from the hieroglyphics before the headache set in, they would be teleported from Brooklyn House to a more secure place, where their plans to stop Apophis wouldn't be overheard by his spies. Of which the letter told them were a more likely case than they'd already thought. Carter and Sadie had decided to give the magicians of Brooklyn House a choice, they could come with, or they could go home with a few precautions. Like a magic NDA for instance that Cleo had found in her hours of studying in the library, that Sadie and Carter had altered with the help of Jo, one of the uni students who wanted to be a lawyer once all this apocalypse stuff was over. The students had decided to stay, to come with to this other place, and listen to the recordings and help Sadie and Carter with the plan to stop Apophis. It made Sadie feel slightly emotional when she thought about it. They had sprung all this on them in the span of a day-and-a-half. And despite that they had all banded together to help figure this out. Everyone was packed, anxious and sleep-deprived as they waited for Carter to come back upstairs so he and Sadie could recite the spell and they would all be transported. 

The sound of an especially angry parent, made its way to the ears of the magicians upstairs, the group huddled in front of the door all collectively winced. The little kids would have been sent off with the older students, but since none of them were leaving, neither were the littles. Carter and some of the older students were probably explaining that right now to some of the parents. With the reputation of the twenty-first nome and the paths that they were all following, there was no guarantee that the little kids would be safe if they were sent off with people from other nomes. Or that the other nomes would return the kids home at all, or even help at all. Not to mention the loner they waited the more of a chance that their planning was noticed by Apophis, or one of his spies. In the end with the decision that all of Brooklyn House would be going, had in a lot of ways made Sadie feel better. In the end, her and Carter were still, bafflingly the most experienced at being magicians, so the bulk of defeating Apophis would still be on their shoulders. But, with the others even being willing to help as much as they could, it felt a little less like Sadie would somehow manage to single-handily, or maybe not so single-handedly she did have Carter after all, mess this up and end the world.

The sounds of talking had stopped from the library all together now. Sadie turned to Khufu. "Go make sure everyone is all packed, and that Julian remembered he was supposed to be the one who packed all of your food to come along." Khufu grunted in what might have been agreement, or might have been hunger. It was hard to tell with the multi-coloured baboon. He started towards Julian, who was next to Felix helping him as he tried to coax one of his penguins into an open suitcase. Sadie watched this with pursed lips, before deciding that Carter could be the one to tell him, that the penguin wouldn't be coming with. She did rather hope that either Julian had packed a good amount of food ending in -O's or that the place they were being transported would have food that would suit Khufu's needs. Sadie didn't have dealing with a hangry, mildly-homicidal baboon on her bucket-list for a reason. The sound of footsteps shook Sadie out of her thoughts and she turned just in time to see the small group of people coming out of the library. There was indeed a few of the older students, some who were uni aged, but at the back next to Carter, with a grimace on his face was Walt. The rest of the group dispersed and started getting the rest of the House ready to leave. Including one poor girl who was in charge of Shelby's group, who was about to have to start negotiations with them to return everyone's shoes back to the state they'd been in previously. Sadie didn't envy her, and from the look Jazz shot her neither did she. "How did things go with the parents?" Sadie asked Carter. He sighed and ran his hand over his face, Sadie scrunched up her nose. "That bad?" Jazz asked from next to Sadie. "Oh it went about as bad as it could have, but nothing anybody could do anyways so." Walt said clapping Carter on the shoulder, "Me and Jazz'll go and make sure my group's all ready to go, you catch Sadie up on what you talked about with Amos." With that he and Jazz went to go make sure their group was all where they were supposed to be. 

"What's going on with Amos," Sadie questioned slightly demandingly, she thought they'd both agreed to not bother him and that they would let him know about the whole trip after the fact. Amos didn't need any other things to stress about not with him still recovering from Set's possession. Carter glowered, "Thanks a lot Walt," he muttered under his breath. Letting out another sight, Carter turned his attention to her. "I wasn't the one who scryed Amos. He was the one who scryed me. Apparently we're not the only nome to receive a delivery. The first nome got a letter nearly three-weeks ago but Desjardins hadn't decided what to do with the contents until recently. Amos probably wouldn't even know about it, if not for the fact that a bunch of other nomes have been contacting the first about mysterious letters they've also been getting. It was causing such a panic that Desjardins' had to tell the other nomes about his own letter to calm them down." Sadie felt a rush of pride at being able to cause such chaos and confusion even if it was a few years from now. Carter must have recognized her smug look, because he gave her a look. Sadie wiped the grin off her face and cleared her throat, "So, did he somehow know that we'd gotten a letter too? Is that something that we'd aught to be worried about, Desjardins using us as an example of what not to do when receiving magic, mysterious letters? Because I think if we leave now, it'll be a while 'till they see us again." Carter shook his head. "No, Amos said he announced his decision today, the letter had a spell within it, a spell to 'fix' things I guess, at least in Desjardins perspective. He announced that thanks to the contents of the letter they won't have to worry about the gods anymore, and that they're preforming the spell in a few hours." Now the other shoe dropped, the Kanes couldn't catch a break not without an even bigger problem emerging, Sadie knew that. She had just thought that maybe the problem had already arrived with the requirement to listen to the first tape. Now with hindsight she could see how naive that idea had been. "Fuck," Sadie said with feeling,"What are we going to do?" 

Carter looked out to the students of Brooklyn House, they were trying to act like they weren't trying to eavesdrop and weren't watching her and Carter waiting and wondering why they hadn't begun the spell. He turned back to her voice lowering as he said,"Nothing. We're not going to do anything, from what I figure, if my future self, let your future self send letters and the recordings back in time to help us stop Apophis, they must've had a few failsafes, to make sure we weren't doing it alone this time." Sometimes it stunned Sadie how much thought Carter put into planning. Even when it wasn't him in this time, he knew he must've thought this through and planned it out in the future. "You think that we're still the ones who sent all the letters, and that we must've lied to Desjardins?" Sadie asked a little bit of disbelief still hanging around in her voice. "I do," Carter said, his shoulders had straightened and he looked at Sadie with eyes that reminded her of a hawk, or maybe Horus. Proud and utterly sure of himself. Sadie sucked in air and puffed out her cheeks, and narrowed her eyes. Carter didn't crack. Didn't falter. Sadie let out the air in her cheeks with a sigh, "Fine, I'll put my trust in your plan... this time." Carter rolled his eyes. 

Sadie reached into her magicians bag and grabbed out the papers containing the spell. As she did Carter stepped forward and clapped his hands loudly. Silence fell over the room. "Alright, everybody this is it make sure everyone in your group is accounted for, and that you all have ahold of your luggage, it'll be awhile before we make a return trip!" Sadie handed Carter his portion of the spell, as they watched everyone do a double check, Sadie made sure her and Carter's bags were slung over their shoulders, and that the suitcase Sadie had made Carter dig out of his closet was touching at least one of their legs. From what Sadie and Carter could translate of the spell so long as they kept contact with their luggage it should hopefully come with. 

Taking a deep breath, and glancing over at Carter to make sure he was ready, Sadie began to read out her part of the spell, a few moments later Carter joined her. It was a relatively short spell as far as spells went, but it was a complicated one. As she read Sadie could feel herself begin to sweat slightly, her eyesight focusing on a word at a time. She could hear Carter intoning next to her, but that was all Sadie could hear. Halfway through Sadie could feel herself begin to get lightheaded, she didn't stop, couldn't stop. Carter's voice sounded strange, deeper in a way, and doubled like there was two of him speaking. In the back of her mind she worried about whether Horus had managed to hitch a ride. But the she heard her own voice. Not the one coming from her mouth, but from beside her on the side where Carter was not. It too sounded strange, she sounded older. Sadie couldn't look away from the spell, but the feeling of not being alone, of deja-vu in a weird, semi-reversed way filled that same place where the worry of Horus once had. The paper in her hands was glowing, so bright that it filled the room with light, but Sadie could still see the words, the spell wasn't finished. Sadie kept chanting, and with the last words that passes her and Carter's lips the light filled everything, stealing even the words from Sadie's eyes. It was bright, blinding white. And then darkness, as Sadie felt weightless. With a rush sound came back in. She could hear the voices of the students of Brooklyn House. But she could also hear other voices. Blinking spots out of her eyes Sadie, tried to focus on the blobs of colour she could see in between the spots of black. She was swaying on her feet. A single annoyingly reconginzable voice rang through the air, 

"C'est impossible!" 

...

Amos and Julius had joked when they were young, back when things were still simple, that some distant relative was the reason the Kane family's luck was so backhanded. 

That whoever it had been had pissed off a god, maybe, or another magician and had been cursed. And said curse had been passed down to them. It had been light-hearted in the beginning. Back before Ruby had begun talking of the world ending, and gods, and the stagnation of the House of Life. Before Amos lost his brother of his blood and magic, and the sister his brother had given him through marriage. Now it was a tired reality. One Amos had long since come to terms with. His therapist had told him before that, that line of thinking was nothing but, an unhealthy self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe it was, after all no one but himself had kept him from his brother's side in all the years they'd lived apart. No one kept him from checking in with Julius, checking in on Carter and Sadie, not just to prevent his brother's suicidal plan, but to actually talk and make sure that what was left of his family was as unscathed as it could be. In the end Amos had squandered the years that could have been spent with his brother, the same way he had with his parents, the same way he had with- He shook himself out of his 'spiraling', as his therapist referred to it. 

'Focus' he thought, looking around at the crowd, and tasting the way the possibility of chaos and division spun through the air, it sat thick and cloying in the back of his throat. He closed his eyes, and took a breath in. Colors danced behind his lids and the smell of discord grew thicker in the air, as did the smell of magic. Not just any kind of magic though, no Set- Amos recognized this as Carter and Sadie's magic, as well as the quiet humming undertones of divine intervention. Amos opened his eyes. That didn't bode well for anyone. Gods rarely interfered and when they did, those who they'd used as tools in their goals, often found themselves fractured and changed. Like Amos. 

Amos stepped away from the group of bickering First Nome magicians towards the place were he could see the ripples of Sadie's shimmery-silver magic, and Carter's warm-yellow-orange, gathering. He tried to ignore the whispers of Isis' too-bright-rainbow and Horus' deep-unwavering-blue tones on the edges of his niblings magic-signatures. The same way he ignored the laughing-neverstill-red that lingered even now in edges of his vision. With a sound like a thousand whispering voices, mixing with the sound of gentle bells, and a bright white flash of light, the Twenty-First Nome appeared into the space where the ripples of magic had been strongest. Amos' eyes searched quickly through the sea of magic-color-taste until he saw his niece and nephew. Sadie was swaying on her feet, skin paler than usual and even from this distance he could see the way her lips were tightly pressed together and her cheeks hollowed inwards, a face he'd seen dozens of times when she was younger right before she would throw-up. Carter looked a little better, he wasn't swaying but his stance was set slightly wider, and he stood slightly behind and to the side of Sadie, his shoulder subtly bracing her and helping her to remain on her feet. However, the strain of whatever ritual they'd preformed showed on Carter's face too, as well as what appeared to be at least a weeks worth of sleepless nights, in the bags under his eyes, and the slight twitch in his jaw clenched tight. 

Most of the magicians in the room were still blinking the light out of their eyes, and trying to regain some sense. Unfortunately for Amos and the rest of the Twenty-First Nome, Michel Desjardins was not one such magician. "C'est Impossible!" he shouted, stumbling over his heavily-decorated announcement robes, as he shoved his way closer to Carter and Sadie. Amos stepped in front of him blocking his path, shoulders squared. He may not be in the best of shape, but he was still a Kane, and what remained of the people he cared about were behind him. Michel, thank all the gods of Egypt, seemed to still have some memory of the warnings given about the Kanes, as he stopped a foot away from Amos, glowering and stiff as he tried to intimidate him.

 Amos raised an eyebrow unmoved, he knew he looked like he'd gone a few rounds with brick wall, with the wall ultimately being the winner, but Michel had grown up knowing the Kane brothers. Amos may not be at his best, but he could still put up enough of a fight that it'd be embarrassing and dangerous for a man who now held the position of Chief Lecter. Michel took a quick headcount, eyes flicking around to see who he could recognize in the  clusters and crowds that would support him. With a grimace Michel looked back to where Amos stood, arms loose by his sides in way that had always spoke of just how ready he was to put up a fight. A stance Michel remember well enough from their youth. Or rather Amos' youth. But, it seemed that Amos' gamble had payed off. There were enough sharks in the water that Michel wouldn't try to challenge Amos, lest it was the Chief Lecter's blood that they caught the scent of. Michel stepped back letting Amos tend to his Nome and niblings, his mouth twisted into something that spoke of his quiet rage, and louder shame at the fact that even now, he and Amos were not so evenly matched as he'd like. Set cackled in the back of Amos' mind, no they were not so evenly matched, especially not now. Not after what had happened in Memphis.

Amos was confident that with so many other witnesses watching, and with the backup of Khufu who had clambered up one of the spiraling columns in the room teeth bared in warning eyes focused on Michel, that Michel wouldn't try anything, nor would any of his 'supporters'. 

He turned his back on the current Chief Lecter. And focused his attention on more important matters his niece and nephew.

"Carter, Sadie," Amos said stepping closer to his niece and nephew, hands open and smile on his face. "As you can probably tell we have much to discuss, but first let me get a good look at you two! It's been months since I last saw you in person!" Carter's jaw was still clenched tight, eyes flickering between Amos and his closed mouthed smile, and Michel who was standing glaring at the three of them. Carter's eyes narrowed, an expression Amos had seen too many times on Julius' face when they were younger passing over his nephews face. Protectiveness. And a willingness to make sure that whatever or whoever was threatening them wouldn't be able to. At least not for much longer. Before Amos could intervene and turn Carter's attention back to himself, Sadie made a quiet noise. She looked slightly green up close. Her eyes screwed tightly closed and pressing her lips tighter making her mouth nothing but a thin white line. 

Sadie's sickness proved to be enough of a distraction and Amos watched as Carter quickly helped Sadie over to one of the many chairs scattered throughout the room. He followed along hands hovering unsure if his help would be well received. Once Sadie was sat down she seemed slightly better, less likely to vomit in the near future. She kept her eyes closed taking deep breaths through her nose. A method Amos can recall Ruby teaching her after they discovered that Sadie would get motion-sick if they took a road-trip that lasted longer then a half-an-hour drive. Some aching distant part of Amos, the part that was still grieving all this time later, wondered if Sadie knew it was her mother who had taught how to deal with her motion-sickness and the nausea that came with it. But, in the end that wasn't the pressing question Amos needed to ask in this moment. No, it was far more important to get sorted out the letters, and how to everyone in this room with more than a few braincells to rub together, it was obvious that Carter and Sadie had something to do with the situation they were all currently in. 

Turning to Carter who was standing close to the armchair he'd helped Sadie into, Amos tilted his head to gesture for both him and Carter to walk slightly further away, giving Sadie time to recover before bringing her into the conversation. Carter licked his lips, eyes darting nervously around the room filled with magicians trying to poorly cover up the fact that they were all listening and watching him and Amos. He nodded and then quickly reached out squeezing Sadie's shoulder in a pattern that Amos knew had to be a way to speak without saying a word. It reminded him of himself and Julius when they'd been Sadie and Carter's age. Shortly after they'd become all each-other had left in the world. Amos looked away, feeling his eyes sting behind his shades, he didn't say anything more. He tried to pull himself back to the present, hard as it felt when he looked at his niece and nephew . All he could see was Julius and himself, alone, against a world without anyone but each-other until Ruby had come along. Amos pushed past his memories and forced himself back into the here and now.

Carter gestured for a few of the magicians that had come with he and Sadie, a tall boy around Carter's age with many necklaces around his neck marking him as a sau. And two girls, one that seemed close to the same age as the boy, who had blond hair and a feeling of warmth-joy-healing present even halfway across the room, the other girl was older maybe around seventeen, eighteen at most, with black hair pulled up into a braided bun and a fierce frown visible on her face. "Sadie's feeling the effects of the spell more than I am. I need to talk to Amos, so I need some help making sure the rest of Brooklyn House doesn't get into anymore trouble. At least more than we're already in right now." Carter had changed in the months since Amos had last seen him, but this, the confidence. Confidence in the way he spoke and lead the others within the Twenty-First Nome, some of whom were older than he was, was the maybe the biggest change. It made him sound older, in the way he spoke. Each word deliberate and heavy. His voice deepening as he grew serious. He looked older like this too, he stood up straighter and it made him look taller, his shoulders broader as if carrying the weight of the fate of the world had become an actual physical thing, and one that Carter had grown used to. 

Amos felt the weight of guilt pressing down on him, as he looked and saw just how mature Carter had, had to become in his absence. How much Carter had to step up as a guide, a mentor. A leader. Carter was only fourteen. But right now he looked nearer to being eighteen then the fourteen he actually was. It had been Amos' responsibility to teach Carter and Sadie, about the world they were stepping into. He was supposed to look out for them. And yet. Here he was useless watching his nephew go through the same thing his brother had at that age, unable to help in anyway that would matter.

Amos quietly stepped away, focusing on the only useful thing he could do at this time, finding a quiet area to talk with Carter about what exactly he and Sadie had gotten into. And why exactly it had a chunk of the House of Life with them. 

...~~~...

Amos had quietly waited, for the first few minutes he had even thought that the smoothing over that Carter had inevitability wound up taking charge of would not last too much longer. He had lost that hope around the the twenty-minute mark, when Carter had seen him standing off to the side and gave him a look of grimacing apology. He supposed that there was nothing to be done about it. Amos had after all been the one to step away, leaving Carter open not only to discussions with the magicians of Brooklyn House, but to the other Nomes as well. And with Carter being acting head of the Twenty-First Nome, as well as being seemingly the only person in this mess, who knew what was going on and was not otherwise occupied; it made sense that the second he was no longer talking to Amos that the vultures would choose to descend. At least, he had comforted himself, Carter seemed to know at least a little, what to do when it came to politicking within the House of Life, and what was expected of him as acting head.

A flicker of magic caught his eye, familiar, comforting even now, all this time later. "Kane," Elias Bakir stood just off to Amos' side, his chin was tilted up in that way he'd always done before he'd start a debate with someone. He looked near the same as Amos had last seen him, except for the scar curving down from an inch above his eyebrow creeping its way along the curve cheek and jaw until it reached his collarbone. That had been nothing but a gaping wound covered in bandages last they'd talked. It had been Amos' fault. His dark eyes were still sharp, and his lips were drawn into a small frown. "Elias," Amos said amicably as he could, feeling his aching heart take up the space his lungs were supposed to occupy, "You're looking well." 

"I'm afraid the same to cannot be said for you," Elias said frown deepening the longer he looked at Amos, "I did not think I'd see you worse then you were after..." Elias trailed off leaving the last time they'd seen each-other and the events that had transpired unspoken. Amos sighed. "Yes, well. I suppose no-one expects the Kane luck until it strikes." Elias scowled, nose wrinkling in discontent "I have told you before, Amo- Kane, there is no such thing as your family in particular having been cursed to have terrible luck. It is just unfortunate circumstance not a family curse. The House of Life investigated those claims when your grandfather brought them up, and again when your brother did and nothing came of it." Amos smiled flatly, "It reaches a point that even unfortunate coincidences begin to feel like a contrived excuse." Elias opened his mouth, clearly ready to defend a point he'd raised many times in the past. Luckily or maybe unluckily just then Amos spotted Michal hurrying over, his face set in a glare, trailing him from behind was a smug looking Sadie, and a shameful, and slightly guilty looking Carter. Sadie seemingly having recovered enough in the past ten or so minutes to have already started to cause problems with the current Chief Lecter. 

Amos dragged his hands over his face, knocking slightly askew his shades. Elias had followed his gaze when he'd spotted his niblings, following behind a pissed off Michal Desjardins. "I suppose we'll have to continue this conversation later, maybe when you aren't so occupied with Julius and Ruby's children and they're penchant for causing problems." Amos, Set, felt his lip curl into a sneer as he turned and looked Elias in the eyes. "No, I don't think we will Elias, now if you'll excuse me I deal with the Chief Lecter and his hysterics." Amos met Michal and the children halfway and then before Michal could get his bearings he grabbed his sleeve and drug him over to one of the many archways that led out of the room. Giving a quick glance to make sure Sadie and Carter were following behind. He didn't check on Eli, didn't glance back hoping that maybe-

Amos could hear the Chief Lecter spluttering, as he dragged him over to the archway that he'd been eyeing before Elias had ambushed him. "Amos Kane! I will have you-" Michal's voice cut out, as Amos released the man's sleeve, and turned to face him. Michal went to speak again, but before he could Amos raised his hand, he could feel-taste-smell the way the Chief Lecter's temper was fraying. His rainbow-shimmer-power-greying-dying magic, flickered like a flame and his face was warped into a snarl. "I'm sure that my niece and nephew will be able to explain everything that's going on, and what they've done to raise the Chief Lecter's ire. However, I would calm myself before any wandering eyes and ears, realize how easily the great Michal Desjardins grows angry."  Michal's eyes flashed, and for a moment Amos wasn't sure whether or not he would be able to convince the man to calm down, but then the Chief Lecter's face smoothed over and he drew himself to his full height. "Very well, Amos Kane, I will hear out what you say, in defense of your... dearest niece and nephew. However, remember this, and remember it well boy, it's not Iskander in charge anymore. I'm Chief Lecter now. And you and your family's fate lies in my hands now, if I was in your place, Amos, I would make sure to stay off of the Chief Lecter's blacklist." 

With his piece said the Chief Lecter stepped back. Amos didn't have much time to dwell on the quiet threat he'd just been issued, as seconds later Sadie and Carter arrived beside him. Carter must've managed to get Sadie to tone down the blatant disrespect to more acceptable levels. Levels that were less likely to get them all brought up on treason charges within the House of Life. And for all Amos could understand her disdain for the current Chief Lecter, Michal had been pompous and self-righteous even before he'd been appointed a position of near absolute  power within the House of Life, it was not wise to poke-the-proverbial-sleeping-bear as it were. It seemed that he and Carter would have their hands full making sure that Sadie didn't cause any further diplomatic troubles while they were here. 

"Now, that we're all here, Carter," Amos peered over the top of his shades to look first at his nephew, and then his niece, "Sadie, I believe you both have some explaining to do."

... ~~~...