Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Kane Chronicles

Chapter 5: Magical Explanations

As Carter slept, he felt himself go weightless. He drifted up, turned, and saw his own sleeping form below.

'I'm dying,' was his first thought. But that wasn't it. He wasn't a ghost. He had a new shimmering golden form with wings instead of arms. He was some kind of bird.

Carter knew he wasn't dreaming, because he didn't dream in color. He certainly don't dream in all five senses. The room smelled faintly of jasmine. Carter could hear the carbonation bubbles pinging in the can of ginger ale. He'd opened on his nightstand. He could feel a cold wind ruffling through his feathers, and he realized the windows were open. He didn't want to leave, but a strong current pulled him out of the room like a leaf in a storm. The lights of the mansion faded below. The skyline of New York blurred and disappeared. He shot through the mist and darkness, strange voices whispering all around him. His stomach tingled as it had earlier that night on Amos's barge. Then the mist cleared, and he was in a different place. He nearly gasped. There was a 9 tailed fox by his side, with familiar cerulean blue eyes.

The two floated above a barren mountain. Far below, a grid of city lights stretched across the valley floor. Definitely not New York. It was nighttime, but Carter could tell he was in the desert. The wind was so dry, the skin on his face was like paper. And he knew that didn't make sense, but his face felt like his normal face, as if that part of him hadn't transformed into a bird.

The fox grinned. "Yes boy," it said, sounding eerily similar to someone Carter knew. "You are beginning to learn."

Below them on a ridge stood two figures. They didn't seem to notice Carter and the fox, and he realized he wasn't glowing anymore. In fact he was pretty much invisible, floating in the darkness. He couldn't make out the two figures clearly, except to recognize that they weren't human. Staring harder, Carter could see that one was short, squat, and hairless, with slimy skin that glistened in the starlight—like an amphibian standing on its hind legs. The other was tall and scarecrow skinny, with rooster claws instead of feet. He couldn't see it's face very well, but it looked red and moist and...well, Carter was sure as hell glad that he couldn't see better.

"Where is he?" the toadie-looking one croaked nervously.

"Hasn't taken a permanent host yet," the rooster-footed guy chided. "He can only appear for a short time."

"You're sure this is the place?"

"Yes, fool! He'll be here as soon—"

A fiery form appeared on the ridge. The two creatures fell to the ground, groveling in the dirt, and Carter prayed like crazy that he really was invisible. The fox simply chuckled.

"My lord!" the toad said.

Even in the dark, the newcomer was hard to see—just the silhouette of a man outlined in flames.

"What do they call this place?" the man asked. And as soon as he spoke, Carter knew for sure he was the guy who'd attacked his dad at the British Museum. All the fear he'd felt at the museum came rushing back, paralyzing him. He remembered trying to pick up that stupid rock to throw, but he hadn't been able to do even that. He'd completely failed his dad.

"Coward," the fox sneered, and something stirred within Carter. He grew angry at this beast for dare calling him a coward.

"My lord," Rooster Foot said. "The mountain is called Camelback. The city is called Phoenix."

The fiery man laughed—a booming sound like thunder. "Phoenix. How appropriate! And the desert so much like home. All it needs now is to be scoured of life. The desert should be a sterile place, don't you think?"

"Oh yes, my lord," the toadie agreed. "But what of the other four?"

"One is already entombed," the fiery man said. "The second is weak. She will be easily manipulated. That leaves only two. And they will be dealt with soon enough."

"Er...how?" the toadie asked.

The fiery man glowed brighter. "You are an inquisitive little tadpole, aren't you?" He pointed at the toad and the poor creature's skin began to steam.

"No!" the toadie begged. "No-o-o-o!"

Carter could hardly watch. He didn't want to see this happen. If you've heard what happens when cruel kids pour salt on snails, you'll have a pretty good idea of what happened to the toadie. Soon there was nothing left.

Rooster Foot took a nervous step back. Carter couldn't blame him.

"We will build my temple here," the fiery man said, as if nothing had happened. "This mountain shall serve as my place of worship. When it is complete, I will summon the greatest storm ever known. I will cleanse everything. Everything."

"Yes, my lord," Rooster Foot agreed quickly. "And, ah, if I may suggest, my lord, to increase your power..." The creature bowed and scraped and moved forward, as if he wanted to whisper in the fiery man's ear.

Just when Carter thought Rooster Foot was going to become fried chicken for sure, he said something to the fiery dude that Carter couldn't make out, and the fiery dude burned brighter.

"Excellent! If you can do this, you will be rewarded. If not..."

"I understand, my lord."

"Go then," the fiery man said. "Unleash our forces. Start with the longnecks. That should soften them up. Collect the younglings and bring them to me. I want them alive, before they have time to learn their powers. Do not fail me."

"No, lord."

"Phoenix," the fiery man mused. "I like that very much." He swept his hand across the horizon, as if he were imagining the city in flames. "Soon I will rise from your ashes. It will be a lovely birthday present."

The fox chuckled. "You'd best hurry boy." It looked at Carter, and for a second he saw another face. Blonde hair, cerulean eyes, and 3 whisker marks on each cheek. "The red lord must be defeated. Will you rise to the challenge once more?"

Carter woke with my heart pounding, back in my own body. He felt hot, as if the fiery guy were starting to burn him. Then he realized that there was a cat on his chest.

Muffin stared at Carter, her eyes half closed. "Mrow."

"How did you get in?" He muttered. He sat up, and for a second he wasn't sure where he was. Some hotel in another city? He almost called for his dad...and then remembered.

Yesterday. The museum. The sarcophagus.

It all crashed down on him so hard that he could barely breathe. 'Stop,' he told myself. 'You don't have time for grief.' And, as strange as it sounds, but the voice in his head almost sounded like a different person—older, stronger. Either that was a good sign...or he was going crazy.

Remember what you saw, the voice said. He's after you. You have to be ready.

Carter shivered. He desperately wanted to believe he'd just had a bad dream, but he knew better. He'd been through too much in the last day to doubt what he'd seen. Somehow, he'd actually left his body while he slept. Carter had been to Phoenix—thousands of miles away. The fiery dude was there. He hadn't understood much of what had been said, but the red dude talked about sending his forces to capture the younglings. Gee, wonder who that could be?

Muffin jumped off the bed and sniffed at the ivory headrest, looking up at Carter as if she were trying to tell him something.

"You can have it," he told her. "It's uncomfortable."

She butted her head against it and stared at the curly haired boy accusingly. "Mrow."

"Whatever, cat."

He got up and showered. When he tried to get dressed, he found that his old clothes had disappeared in the night. Everything in the closet was his size- thank god- but way different than what he was used to—baggy drawstring pants and loose shirts, all plain white linen, and robes for cold weather, kind of what the fellahin, the peasants in Egypt, wear. It wasn't exactly his style.

Sadie liked to tell Carter that he doesn't have style. She complains that he dresses like an old man— button-down shirt, slacks, dress shoes. But the thing was, his dad had always drilled into his head that he had to dress my best.

Carter remember the first time he explained it to him. He was ten at the time. They were on their way to the airport in Athens, and it was 112 degrees outside, and Carter was complaining that he wanted to wear shorts and a Tshirt. Why couldn't he be comfortable? They weren't going anywhere important that day—just traveling.

But Julius put his hand on Carter's shoulder. "Carter, you're getting older. You're an African American man. People will judge you more harshly, and so you must always look impeccable."

"That isn't fair!" Carter insisted.

"Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same," Dad said. "Fairness means everyone gets what they need. And the only way to get what you need is to make it happen yourself. Do you understand?"

Carter told him he didn't. But still, he did what he asked—like caring about Egypt, and basketball, and music. Like traveling with only one suitcase. He dressed the way Julius wanted him to, because Julius was usually right. In fact he'd never known him to be wrong...until the night at the British Museum.

At any rate, he put on the linen clothes from the closet. The slipper shoes were comfortable, though he honestly doubted they'd be much good to run in.

The door to Sadie's room was open, but she wasn't there. There was another door in her room that was also open: Naruto's door. Thankfully his bedroom door wasn't locked anymore. Muffin joined him and they walked downstairs, passing a lot of unoccupied bedrooms on the way. The mansion could've easily slept a hundred people, but instead it felt empty and sad.

"You'd better be careful," Naruto's voice came as he stopped Carter, who was about to walk into a pillar.

"Oh," Carter mumbled. "Thanks."

Naruto smiled. "No prob. Just be careful man." Carter nodded. He actually got a good look at him now.

Naruto's sun kissed blonde hair was spiky, reaching down to just below his shoulders. His cerulean blue eyes seemed to ooze out a feeling of peace. The three whisker marks on his cheeks made him seem odd, but looking cool. He no longer wore his white cloak. His clothes were now a white Tshirt, a brown jacket with a hood, blue jeans and black shoes. Around his neck were 2 different necklaces. The first was a green jewel, perhaps an emerald, but it was in very good condition. Carter wagered it would cost a lot. His other necklace consisted of something Carter had never seen before. There were 9 of them running along the thread.

"Magatama," Naruto said, getting a confused look from Carter. "On my necklace. They are called Magatama."

"Oh," Carter said. "How did you know I was curious?"

"You were looking at them," Naruto said simply.

Down in the Great Room, Khufu the baboon sat on the sofa with a basketball between his legs and a chunk of strange-looking meat in his hands. It was covered in pink feathers. ESPN was on the television, and Khufu was watching highlights from the games the night before.

"Hey," Naruto said. "Lakers win?"

Khufu looked at Naruto and patted his basketball like he wanted a game. "Agh, agh."

Naruto hummed, then shook his head. "Not right now. Later, okay?" Khufu grunted, but nodded.

The two could see Sadie and Amos out on the terrace, eating breakfast by the pool. It should've been freezing out there, but the fire pit was blazing, and neither Amos nor Sadie looked cold. Carter and Naruto headed their way, but Carter hesitated in front of the statue of Thoth. In the daylight, the bird-headed god didn't look quite so scary.

What had the red man said the night before? Something about catching them before they learned our powers. It sounded ridiculous, but just for a moment, Carter felt a surge of strength—like the night before when he'd opened the front door just by raising his hand. He felt like he could lift anything, even this thirty-foot-tall statue if he wanted to. In a kind of trance, he stepped forward.

Naruto grabbed is shoulder, and the feeling dissolved. "Not yet Carter," he said.

Carter blinked, then nodded. "Your right," he mumbled. "Dumb idea."

Besides, Carter could smell breakfast now—French toast, bacon, hot chocolate— he couldn't blame Naruto for stopping him.

"Ah, Carter and Naruto," Amos said. "Merry Christmas. Join us."

"About time," Sadie grumbled. "I've been up for ages."

But she held Carter's eyes for a moment, and he knew that they were thinking the exact same thing: Christmas. They hadn't spent a Christmas morning together since their mother died. Carter vaguely wondered if Sadie remembered how they used to make god's-eye decorations out of yarn and Popsicle sticks.

Amos poured himself a cup of coffee. His clothes were similar to those he'd worn the day before. His tailored suit was made of blue wool, he wore a matching fedora, and his hair was freshly braided with dark blue lapis lazuli, one of the stones the Egyptians often used for jewellery. Even his glasses matched. The round lenses were tinted blue. A tenor sax rested on a stand near the fire pit, and it was very easy to picture him playing it out there, serenading the East River.

As for Sadie, she was dressed in a white linen pajama outfit like Carter, but somehow she'd managed to keep her combat boots. She'd probably slept with them on. She looked pretty comical with the red-streaked hair and the outfit, but since he wasn't dressed any better, he could hardly make fun of her.

Sadie glanced at Naruto and blushed a bright red. Carter felt like hitting the blonde for catching his little sister's attention- why did he care now when he hadn't before?- but he didn't because a) the blonde could probably beat him without trying and b) he trusted Naruto. He oozed this aura that just made you feel like you could depend on him. Carter shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Um...Amos?" Carter asked. "You didn't have any pet birds, did you? Khufu's eating something with pink feathers."

"Mmm." Amos sipped his coffee. "Sorry if that disturbed you. Khufu's very picky. He only eats foods that end in -o. Doritos, burritos, flamingos."

Carter blinked. "Did you say—"

"Carter," Sadie warned. She looked a little queasy, like she'd already had this conversation. "Don't ask."

"Okay," the curly haired boy agreed. "Not asking."

"Please, Carter, help yourself." Amos waved toward a buffet table piled high with food. "Then we can get started with the explanations."

Carter didn't see any flamingo on the buffet table, which was fine by him, but there was just about everything else. He snagged some pancakes with butter and syrup, some bacon, and a glass of OJ. Naruto had somehow gotten a bowel filled with noodles and some toppings on it, along with a glass of coke. Where the hell did he get that?

Then Carter noticed movement in the corner of his eye. He glanced at the swimming pool. Something long and pale was gliding just under the surface of the water.

Carter very nearly dropped my plate. "Is that—"

"A crocodile," Amos confirmed. "For good luck. He's albino, but please don't mention that. He's sensitive."

"His name is Philip of Macedonia," Sadie informed her brother.

"That's a long name," he said.

"He's a long crocodile," Sadie said. "Oh, and he likes bacon."

To prove her point, she tossed a piece of bacon over her shoulder. Philip lunged out of the water and snapped up the treat. His hide was pure white and his eyes were pink. His mouth was so big, he could've snapped up an entire pig.

Naruto laughed. "Pink hide...hilarious!" Philip seemed to whimper, but a smile from Naruto made it realize he was just kidding.

"He's quite harmless to my friends," Amos assured Carter. "In the old days, no temple would be complete without a lake full of crocodiles. They are powerful magic creatures."

"Right," Carter said slowly. "So the baboon, the crocodile...any other pets I should know about?"

Amos thought for a moment. "Visible ones? No, I think that's it."

Carter took a seat as far from the pool as possible. Muffin circled his legs and purred. He desperately hoped she had enough sense to stay away from magic crocodiles named Philip.

"So, Amos," Carter said between bites of pancake. "Explanations."

"Yes," he agreed. "Where to start..."

"Perhaps we should start with Julius?" Naruto suggested. "It's as good a place as any."

Amos took a deep breath. "Julius was attempting to summon a god. Unfortunately, it worked."

"Any god in particular?" Carter asked casually. "Or did he just order a generic god?"

Sadie kicked him under the table. Naruto rolled his eyes like Carter was an idiot.

Amos took a bite of bagel. "There are many Egyptian gods, Carter. But your dad was after one in particular." He looked at him meaningfully.

"Osiris," Carter remembered. "When Dad was standing in front of the Rosetta Stone, he said, 'Osiris, come.' But Osiris is a legend. He's make-believe."

"I wish that were true." Amos stared across the East River at the Manhattan skyline, gleaming in the morning sun. "The Ancient Egyptians were not fools, Carter. They built the pyramids. They created the first great nation state. Their civilization lasted thousands of years."

"Yeah," Carter said. "And now they're gone."

Naruto scowled at Carter. "You are wrong," Naruto said with absolute conviction. "Did the west die? No. Egypt was the very root of Western Civilisation. As long as the west lives, so does Egypt. And so do her gods."

"Come on," Carter argued. "I mean...even if I believe there's a real thing called magic. Believing in ancient gods is totally different. You're joking, right?"

But even as he said it, he thought about the fiery guy in the museum, the way his face had shifted between human and animal. And the statue of Thoth—how its eyes seemed to follow him.

"Carter," Naruto sighed, "the Egyptians would not have been dumb enough to believe in fake gods. The beings described in their myths are very, very real. More real than I would like. In the old days, the priests of Egypt would call upon these gods to channel their power and perform what were known as 'miracles'. That is the origin of what we call magic. Like a lot of things, magic was first invented by the Egyptians. Each temple had a branch of magicians that was called the House of Life. Their magicians were famed throughout the ancient world."

"So your an Egyptian magician?" Carter said in disbelief.

Naruto hesitated. "I am...to an extent. However Amos and your father are, can tell that much."

Carter hesitated. "But he's an archaeologist," he said stubbornly.

"That's his cover story," Amos said. "You'll remember that he specialized in translating ancient spells, which are very difficult to understand unless you work magic yourself. Our family, the Kane family, has been part of the House of Life almost since the beginning. And your mother's family is almost as ancient."

"The Fausts?" Carer tried to imagine Grandma and Grandpa Faust doing magic.

"They had not practiced magic for many generations," Amos admitted. "Not until your mother came along. But yes, a very ancient bloodline."

Sadie shook her head in disbelief. "So now Mum was magic, too. Are you joking?"

"No jokes," Amos promised. "The two of you...you combine the blood of two ancient families, both of which have a long, complicated history with the gods. You are the most powerful Kane children to be born in many centuries."

Carter tried to let that sink in. He felt rather queasy. "You're telling me our parents secretly worshipped animal-headed gods?" he asked.

"Not worshipped," Amos corrected. "By the end of the ancient times, Egyptians had learned that their gods were not to be worshipped. They are powerful beings, primeval forces, but they are not divine in the sense one might think of God. They are created entities, like mortals, only much more powerful. We can respect them, fear them, use their power, or even fight them to keep them under control—"

"Fight gods?" Sadie interrupted.

"Constantly," Amos assured her. "But we don't worship them. Thoth taught us that."

Carer looked at Sadie for help. But Sadie was looking like she believed every word. "So..." Carter said. "Why did Dad break the Rosetta Stone?"

"Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean to break it," Amos said. "That would've horrified him. In fact, I imagine my brethren in London have repaired the damage by now. The curators will soon check their vaults and discover that the Rosetta Stone miraculously survived the explosion."

"But it was blown into a million pieces!" Carter yelled out. "How could they repair it?"

Amos picked up a saucer and threw it onto the stone floor. The saucer shattered instantly. "That was to destroy," Amos said. "I could've done it by magic—ha-di—but it's simpler just to smash it. And now..." Amos held out his hand. "Join. Hi-nehm." A blue hieroglyphic symbol burned in the air above his palm.

The pieces of the saucer flew into his hand and reassembled like a puzzle, even the smallest bits of dust gluing themselves into place. Amos put the perfect saucer back on the table.

"Some trick," Carter managed. He tried to sound calm about it, but I was thinking of all the odd things that had happened to my dad and me over the years, like those gunmen in the Cairo hotel who'd ended up hanging by their feet from a chandelier. Was it possible his father had used magic to do that?

Amos poured milk in the saucer, and put it on the floor. Muffin came padding over. "At any rate, your father would never intentionally damage a relic. He simply didn't realize how much power the Rosetta Stone contained. You see, as Egypt faded, its magic collected and concentrated into its remaining relics. Most of these, of course, are still in Egypt. But you can find some in almost every major museum. A magician can use these artifacts as focal points to work more powerful spells."

"I don't get it," Carter said.

"Forgive him Carter," Naruto said. "It takes years to understand magic, and he is trying to explain it to you in a single morning, which is practically impossible."

"The important thing is, for the past six years your father has been looking for a way to summon Osiris," Amos said, "and last night he thought he had found the right artifact to do it."

"Wait, why did he want Osiris?"

Sadie gave her brother a troubled look. "Carter, Osiris was the lord of the dead. Dad was talking about making things right. He was talking about Mum."

Suddenly the morning seemed colder. The fire pit sputtered in the wind coming off the river.

"He wanted to bring Mom back from the dead?" he said. "But that's crazy!"

Amos hesitated. "It would've been dangerous. Inadvisable. Foolish. But not crazy. Your father is a powerful magician. If, in fact, that is what he was after, he might have accomplished it, using the power of Osiris."

Carter stared at Sadie. "You're actually buying this?"

"You saw the magic at the museum. The fiery bloke. Dad summoned something from the stone."

"Yeah," he said, thinking of his dream. "But that wasn't Osiris, was it?"

"No," Amos said. "Your father got more than he bargained for. He did release the spirit of Osiris. In fact, I think he successfully joined with the god—"

"Joined with?"

Amos held up his hand. "Another long conversation. For now, let's just say he drew the power of Osiris into himself. But he never got the chance to use it because, according to what Sadie has told me, it appears that Julius released five gods from the Rosetta Stone. Five gods who were all trapped together."

Carter glanced at Sadie. "You told him everything?"

"He's going to help us, Carter."

Carter was not ready to trust him, even if Amos was his uncle. But he supposed he had no choice.

"Okay, yeah," I said. "The fiery guy said something like 'You released all five.' What did he mean?"

Amos sipped his coffee. The faraway look on his face reminded Carter of Julius. "I don't want to scare you."

"Too late."

"The gods of Egypt are very dangerous. For the last two thousand years or so, we magicians have spent much of our time binding and banishing them whenever they appear. In fact, our most important law, issued by Chief Lector Iskandar in Roman times, forbids unleashing the gods or using their power. Your father broke that law once before."

Sadie's face paled. "Does this have something to do with Mum's death? Cleopatra's Needle in London?"

"It has everything to do with that, Sadie. Your parents...well, they thought they were doing something good. They took a terrible risk, and it cost your mother her life. Your father took the blame. He was exiled, I suppose you would say. Banished. He was forced to move around constantly because the House monitored his activities. They feared he would continue his...research. As indeed he did."

Carter thought about the times Dad would look over his shoulder as he copied some ancient inscriptions, or wake him up at three or four in the morning and insist it was time to change hotels, or warn him not to look in his workbag or copy certain pictures from old temple walls—as if their lives depended on it.

"Is that why you never came round?" Sadie asked Amos. "Because Dad was banished?"

"The House forbade me to see him. I loved Julius. It hurt me to stay away from my brother, and from you children. But I could not see you—until last night, when I simply had no choice but to try to help. Julius has been obsessed with finding Osiris for years. He was consumed with grief because of what happened to your mother. When I learned that Julius was about to break the law again, to try to set things right, I had to stop him. A second offense would've meant a death sentence. Unfortunately, I failed. I should've known he was too stubborn."

Carter looked down at my plate. His food had gotten cold. Muffin leaped onto the table and rubbed against his hand. When he didn't object, she started eating his bacon. He glanced at Naruto, and saw the blonde eating his food without a care in the world.

"Last night at the museum," Carter said, "the girl with the knife, the man with the forked beard—they were magicians too? From the House of Life?"

"Yes," Amos said. "Keeping an eye on your father. You are fortunate they let you go."

"The girl wanted to kill us," Carter remembered. "But the guy with the beard said, not yet."

"They don't kill unless it is absolutely necessary," Amos said. "They will wait to see if you are a threat."

"Why would we be a threat?" Sadie demanded. "We're children! The summoning wasn't our idea."

Amos pushed away his plate. "There is a reason you two were raised separately."

"Because the Fausts took Dad to court," Carter said matter-of-factly. "And Dad lost."

"It was much more than that," Amos said. "The House insisted you two be separated. Your father wanted to keep you both, even though he knew how dangerous it was."

Sadie looked like she'd been smacked between the eyes. "He did?"

"Of course. But the House intervened and made sure your grandparents got custody of you, Sadie. If you and Carter were raised together, you could become very powerful. Perhaps you have already sensed changes over the past day."

Carter thought about the surges of strength he'd been feeling, and the way Sadie suddenly seemed to know how to read Ancient Egyptian. Then he thought of something even further back.

"Your sixth birthday," he told Sadie.

"The cake," she said immediately, the memory passing between them like an electric spark.

At Sadie's sixth birthday party, the last one they'd shared as a family, Sadie and Carter had a huge argument. Carter couldn't remember what it was about. He thought he wanted to blow out the candles for her. They started yelling. She grabbed his shirt. He pushed her. He remembered their Dad rushing toward them, trying to intervene, but before he could, Sadie's birthday cake exploded. Icing splattered the walls, their parents, the faces of Sadie's little six-year-old friends. Julius and Ruby separated them. They sent Carter to his room. Later, they said they must've hit the cake by accident as they were fighting, but Carter knew they hadn't. Something much weirder had made it explode, as if it had responded to their anger. He remembered Sadie crying with a chunk of cake on her forehead, an upside-down candle stuck to the ceiling with its wick still burning, and an adult visitor, one of his parents' friends, his glasses speckled with white frosting.

Carter turned to Amos. "That was you. You were at Sadie's party."

"Vanilla icing," he recalled. "Very tasty. But it was clear even then that you two would be difficult to raise in the same household."

"And so..." he faltered. "What happens to us now?" I didn't want to admit it, but I couldn't stand the thought of being separated from Sadie again. She wasn't much, but she was all I had.

"You must be trained properly," Amos said, "whether the House approves or not."

"Why wouldn't they approve?" Carter asked.

"I will explain everything, don't worry. But we must start your lessons if we are to stand any chance of finding your father and putting things right. Otherwise the entire world is in danger. If we only knew where—"

"Phoenix," he blurted out.

Amos stared at me. "What?"

"Last night I had...well, not a dream, exactly..." he felt stupid, but Carter told him what had happened while he had slept.

Judging from Amos's expression, the news was even worse than Carter thought. "You're sure he said 'birthday present'?" he asked.

"Yeah, but what does that mean?"

"And a permanent host," Amos said. "He didn't have one yet?"

"Well, that's what the rooster-footed guy said—"

"That was a demon," Amos said. "A minion of chaos. And if demons are coming through to the mortal world, we don't have much time. This is bad, very bad."

"If you live in Phoenix," Carter said.

"Carter, our enemy won't stop in Phoenix. If he's grown so powerful so fast...What did he say about the storm, exactly?"

"He said: 'I will summon the greatest storm ever known.'"

Amos scowled. "The last time he said that, he created the Sahara. A storm that large could destroy North America, generating enough chaos energy to give him an almost invincible form."

"What are you talking about? Who is this guy?"

Amos waved away the question. "More important right now: why didn't you sleep with the headrest?"

Carter shrugged. "It was uncomfortable." he looked at Sadie for support. "You didn't use it, did you?"

Sadie rolled her eyes. "Well, of course I did. It was obviously there for a reason."

Carter glanced at Naruto who chuckled nervously. "Yeah...don't like the headrest either."

"Carter, Naruto," Amos said, "sleep is dangerous. It's a doorway into the Duat."

"Lovely," Sadie grumbled. "Another strange word."

"Ah...yes, sorry," Amos said. "The Duat is the world of spirits and magic. It exists beneath the waking world like a vast ocean, with many layers and regions. We submerged just under its surface last night to reach New York, because travel through the Duat is much faster. Carter, your consciousness also passed through its shallowest currents as you slept, which is how you witnessed what happened in Phoenix. Fortunately, you survived that experience. But the deeper you go into the Duat, the more horrible things you encounter, and the more difficult it is to return. There are entire realms filled with demons, palaces where the gods exist in their pure forms, so powerful their mere presence would burn a human to ashes. There are prisons that hold beings of unspeakable evil, and some chasms so deep and chaotic that not even the gods dare explore them. Now that your powers are stirring, you must not sleep without protection, or you leave yourself open to attacks from the Duat or...unintended journeys through it. The headrest is enchanted, to keep your consciousness anchored to your body."

"You mean I actually did..." Carter's mouth tasted like metal. "Could he have killed me?"

Amos's expression was grave. "The fact that your soul can travel like that means you are progressing faster than I thought. Faster than should be possible. If the Red Lord had noticed you—"

"The Red Lord?" Sadie said. "That's the fiery bloke?"

Amos rose. "I must find out more. We can't simply wait for him to find you. And if he releases the storm on his birthday, at the height of his powers—"

"You mean you're going to Phoenix?" Carter could barely get the words out. "Amos, that fiery man defeated Dad like his magic was a joke! Now he's got demons, and he's getting stronger, and—you'll be killed!"

Amos gave them a dry smile, like he'd already weighed the dangers and didn't need a reminder. His expression reminded Carter painfully of his Dad's. "Don't count your uncle out so quickly, Carter. I've got some magic of my own. Besides, I must see what is happening for myself if we're to have any chance at saving your father and stopping the Red Lord. I'll be quick and careful. Just stay here. Muffin will guard you."

Carter blinked. "The cat will guard us? You can't just leave us here! What about our training?"

"When I return," Amos promised. "Don't worry, the mansion is protected. Just do not leave. Do not be tricked into opening the door for anyone. And whatever happens, do not go into the library. I absolutely forbid it. I will be back by sunset. Also...the thought of that fox you described worries me."

Carter saw Naruto out the corner of his eye, his fist clenched, his eyes seeming to flicker between a burning red and his usual cerulean blue.

Before they could protest, Amos walked calmly to the edge of the terrace and jumped.

"No!" Sadie screamed. The siblings ran to the railing and looked over. Below was a hundred-foot drop into the East River. There was no sign of Amos. He'd simply vanished.

Philip of Macedonia splashed in his pool. Muffin jumped onto the railing and insisted they pet her. They were alone in a strange mansion with a baboon, a crocodile, a weird cat, and the enigma known as Naruto Uzumaki. And apparently, the entire world was in danger.

Carter looked at Sadie. "What do we do now?"

She crossed her arms. "Well, that's obvious, isn't it?" When Carter blinked, Sadie rolled her eyes. "We explore the library."

They heard Naruto sigh. "Just like Konohamaru..." he muttered. "No...probably worse..."

Sadie seemed to take that as a compliment. "Come on!" She insisted. "Let's go!"