Estelle and The Mark of Arachnid: The Trident of Poseidon (Chapter 10)
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Chapter 10: Even My Doctor is Quite... Strange
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, fanbase series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians; Heroes of Olympus; Trials of Apollo; Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard are owned by Rick Riordan. Spiderman or any concept of him are owned by Marvel Comics and Sony Entertainment. Please support the official releases.
So… after what happened at the CTF event, the adults took us to the medical cabin and gave us a check-up. They first checked up on Sam and saw how she was doing after her little power-up. Sam was confused at first on why she was being checked until I explained to her what happened.
“Wait… so I just went full Ultra Instinct?” She asked.
“Yeah.”
“That’s totally cheating! And Overpowering!” She yelled. “There’s no way I could use such an overpowering technique this early. Not even Goku mastered it in one day!”
“Relax, it’s not Ultra Instinct,” Annabeth said. “It’s Aura.”
“Aura? What’s that?” Sam asked.
“It’s-
[FAST FORWARD]
We already talked about this from the last chapter so we’ll just skip that for now. But rest assured, a time will come when Sam’s adventures will be revealed. It is awesome!
[PLAY]
After Annabeth explained her theory of Aura, Sam was giving a shock expression.
“Oh my god… or rather, gods. I can’t believe I unlocked an ability that gods can wield!”
“You unlocked it, but you haven’t mastered it,” Annabeth said. “I don’t watch anime, but even you have to know that it takes a lot of training to master such power.”
“True, but still, it’s crazy enough that I’m also a daughter of Athena, let alone have a unique power.”
After the doctors finished up on checking on Sam, they reported that she’s healthy for now. However, they did find a small burn mark under her arm. It may have been the result of her overusing the power without proper training. Unfortunately, there’s no one alive that can guide her to use the power properly. And the gods are forbidden to teach a technique to mortals (Don’t ask why because not even Annabeth knows either). So for now, she’s not allowed to use the power for the time being.
For now, they started their check up on me. Percy was really impatient about it. Annabeth was more worried about the symbol and what it means. I recall what Percy told me about how she fought Arachne and won. Afterwards, they both fell to Tartarus; I guess seeing the symbol brought some horrible memories for both of them. And it’s worse if I have it.
“Anything?” Percy asked.
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Just only these marks that’s on her sleeves,” one of the Apollo kids said.
“Then what about the immense strength she showed earlier? And her fast reflex?!”
“Percy! Calm down!” Annabeth tries to calm Percy down. “I’m sure it can be fixed easily.”
“Now, Estelle, do you know when all these strange abilities start to manifest?” One of the Apollo kids asked.
I shrugged, “Sort of? It may have been around the same time that the spider bit me during the field trip. It kind of appeared near the Tablet that mentions Arachne.”
“Tablet?” Annabeth asked.
I explained to everyone about how a spider appeared near the Tablet of Arachne and then bit me, only to disappear afterward. Then The Vulture appeared and attacked me and Sam. And pretty much, that’s how we were sent to Camp in the first place.
“I see…” One of the kids said.
“What is it?” Percy asked.
“What Estelle has is a simple Curse.”
“A curse? Oh man, am I gonna turn into a giant spider monster?”
The kid sighs, “Unfortunately, we do not know. Curses are not our specialty I’m afraid. And the expert of curses is in California at the moment so there’s no one close by that can help us.”
“No,” Percy replied. “There are a couple of people I know.”
“Really? You know some people, Percy?” I asked. He nodded.
“Who?”
“The most powerful sorcerers we know, The Kane’s.”
The three of us, Percy; Annabeth and I, headed off to Brooklyn to get me checked up and to understand more about my situation. Sam had to be left behind due to her injury during Capture the flag. In the meantime, she will be watching over the kids until we return.
“So… when you say sorcerers…”
“They’re Egyptian sorcerers. Some of the most powerful ones we know so far.”
“Woah…” I said. “I didn’t think such a thing existed.”
“There’s more than just demigods, Estelle. There’s Egyptian magicians, fallen Norse warriors called Einherjar who are sent to Valhalla, Valkyries and Roman demigods,” Annabeth explained.
“Okay, we’re here.”
We all got out of the car and arrived at a tall building. What amazed me was that it was a school with a bunch of students around my age and younger coming and going in uniforms. The crazy part is that I know the school.
“Hold on! Is this the Kane Boarding School Institute?!”
“You heard of it?” Annabeth asked.
“Heard of it?! Sam and I nearly got accepted to the school! Apparently we were highly skilled and were considered to be transferred to KBS.”
“Why didn’t you?” Annabeth asked.
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
“Well anyways, before it was a school, the place was an abandoned warehouse. But Carter decided to expand the House and rebuilt it into a school. It’s a lot bigger inside,” Annabeth explained.
As we entered, one of the administrators greeted us.
“Hello, welcome to Kane Boarding School.”
“Hi Jasmine,” Percy answered. “We’re here to see Carter and Sadie.”
“Ah, Percy Jackson,” Jasmine replied. “It’s good to see you again. Elevator down the hall. Top floor as always. I’ll let them know you’re here.
Percy sighs.
“Thanks Jasmine.”
As we left and heading down, Percy commented about how much he hates elevators. Apparently, he had to escape Tartarus by an elevator and started playing Pina Colada as he watched his friends in Tartarus suffer in front of him.
I don’t know if I should find that funny or traumatizing.
Anyways, we started heading down the hall, I noticed that kids were looking at us, well, me specifically. They weren’t being curious; they were being more cautious instead. The elevator that was at the end of the hall opened and we all entered. Percy pushed the button to the top floor and it closed. And you wanna know what song it was playing?
Walk Like an Egyptian by the Bangles.
Kinda funny in a cosmic way. Going to visit some sorcerers of Egypt; on an elevator, listening to Walk Like an Egyptian.
I started humming to the lyrics and swayed a bit. Couldn’t help it, it’s a good song.
“You really love the classics, don’t you Estelle,” Percy commented.
“AND PROUD OF IT!”
What can I say, I have a… bizarre taste.
And before you ask, YES! THIS IS A JOJO REFERENCE!
I’m sorry…
Anyways, the elevator opened and reached the roof and what I saw amazed me to this day.
“Woah…” I said.
It was a huge mansion and at the front was a wooden door with no knob or handles.
“So, uh, do we knock or…”
Before I could finish, the doors automatically opened and a young kid around my age appeared, with dark skin and black curly hair and light brown eyes.
“Hey Lucas,” Annabeth said. “You’ve grown a bit.”
Lucas smiled, “Hey Aunt Beth, Uncle Percy.”
“Hey kid, is your mom and uncle home?”
Lucas nodded. “Yeah, Uncle Carter just came back from the museum with the artifact.”
“Artifact?” I interrupted, “Wait, are you referring to the Tablet that bit me?!”
“Ah, you must be Estelle Blofis,” Lucas said. He took out his hand for a shake. “Lucas Stone is my name. You already know my mother.”
When I heard Lucas last name, I freaked out.
“Your mom is Sadie Stone?!”
Lucas nodded.
“The very same,” said another voice. I turned around and saw a woman wearing a jean jacket, a black shirt and blue jeans. She has long blonde hair with colorful highlights.
It was the highlights that gave away her identity.
“Doctor Sadie!” I said. I ran up to her and hugged her.
Doctor Sadie is my doctor who I always visit every year. She also checks over Sam too.
“Hey Estelle, how have you been? I hope you’ve been eating properly.”
“Me?! Why didn’t you tell me you were a wizard?!” I replied.
Sadie chuckled, “I take it Percy told you the truth about everything?”
I nodded.
“Well it’s about time. I swear, I thought your brother was making a terrible mistake hiding it from you.”
“I did it to protect her,” Percy replied. “You of all people should know how dangerous this life is.”
“And you of all people should know how important family is,” Said another voice. Behind Sadie and Lucas was an older man, roughly around Percy’s age but maybe a bit younger. Dark skin and brown trimmed curly hair and brown eyes.
“Hello Percy, Annabeth.”
“Carter, been a while,” Percy said. Though I sense a bit of hostility between Percy and Carter.
Carter smirked, “Ready to admit you lost that fight?”
Percy scoffed, “When hell freezes.”
Annabeth sighed and explained. Apparently, these two fought when encountering a very hungry alligator (Or Crocodile, I couldn’t remember) and neither are admitting who would’ve won that fight.
Boys, am I right?
“And you must be Estelle Blofis,” Carter spoke to me and reached out his hand to shake. And shook it.
“That’s me, I took it that my brother and Annabeth explained my situation?”
He nodded.
“Yeah, I had to head to the museum to retrieve the artifact.”
“How did you manage to steal an ancient artifact after the building was attacked?” I asked.
“Simple, I was the one that found the artifact in the first place.”
“Huh?” I said.
Apparently, Carter Kane was on an archeological expedition for the high schoolers and eventually, they found the tablet and brought it back to New York for studying. And the crazy part? Carter Kane is the Pharaoh. No joke. This archaeological sorcerer is the Pharaoh. So technically, he’s a king. Like Black Panther.
And what does that make Sadie? The Sorceress Supreme?
“The weird thing is that the entire case was secured both to mortals and monsters. So how a spider managed to bite you is a mystery itself. But Sadie and I will find out about it.”
“Hold on Carter, I think we should wait for Walt to come up with Zia and Ruby. He’s an expert on this kind of magic as well.”
Carter nodded and explained to me who Walt and Zia are.
Zia Kane and Walt Stone are also gifted with magic and are married to the Kane Siblings. Zia Kane is the headmaster of the school downstairs and Walt Stone is a professor who teaches curse magic. The school is also part of the Kane’s mansion and is used as a place for children gifted with magic to learn how to wield it as well as use it responsibly.
It’s basically Hogwarts but for Egyptian sorcerers.
“Sounds like Hogwarts has competition,” I said.
Sadie laughed.
“Oh they wish they can compete with Zia's students.”
We all sat by the main floor, waiting on Zia and Walt to finish school. It is the last day before Summer Vacation. In the meantime, Sadie was gonna give me a doctor check up on my situation.
“So, what’s the issue with Estelle? Transformation? Death Omen? Sickness?”
Percy shook his head. “No it’s… well it’s best that she shows you. Go ahead Estelle.”
I looked for something that I can use for demonstration.
“Hey, can I use that lamp?” I asked.
Carter nodded.
I aimed my hand at the lamp and the magic circle appeared again at my wrist.
THWIP
A thread of web was shot toward the lamp and made it fall.
Carter and Sadie were shocked at what I did.
“Did you just… shoot out webs on your wrist?” Carter asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, but it’s coming from these magic circles on my wrist.”
“So… it’s not like Tobey Macguire’s situation then?”
“Nope.”
“That’s not all,” Annabeth said. “She apparently has a quick reflex and superhuman strength. We witnessed this during our Capture the Flag event.”
“Does she have the ability to climb walls?” Sadie asked.
“Sadie, this is no joke,” Carter replied.
“I’m serious, Carter.”
I never really thought about that. I never had an opportunity to climb up walls. Maybe now might be a good chance. I asked the Kane’s if I could try climbing their walls. I walked up to the wall.
“See if you can climb up that wall.”
I then placed my hands on the wall, but nothing seemed to be happening. My hands weren’t sticking to the wall.
“Maybe you need to have the need to climb the wall. Otherwise your hands would have stuck to everything,” Carter suggested.
“That… actually makes sense,” I said.
“That’s why he’s the nerd,” Sadie said.
Carter rolled his eyes.
Apparently even when you grow up, siblings will always be siblings.
I did what Carter suggested and tried to crave for a need to climb the wall. Right when my fingers were about to touch the wall, the magic circle appeared for each finger. Suddenly, my hands felt attached to the wall.
“It worked!” I yelled. I started climbing upwards, even the magic circles appeared to my feet as well. I kept climbing up the wall until I reached the ceiling.
Everyone was shocked at what I was doing.
I, on the other hand, was freaking out with excitement.
“PERCY! ANNABETH! LOOK, I’M SPIDER-MAN!” I yelled, laughing.
As I came back down, I asked the Kane siblings, “So, what do you guys think?”
“Well… for starters,” Sadie responded. “Do you guys by any chance have an Uncle Ben?”
This is why she’s my favorite doctor.
“Sadie!” Percy yelled. “This is serious!”
Before Sadie could reply, the front door opened. Three people walked in. A woman with short black hair dressed in a business suit arrived. A man, dark skin and in formal satire as well. And a little girl, a shade lighter than Carter’s skin.
“Daddy! We’re home!” Said the little girl, running toward Carter and hugging him.
“Hey Ruby. How was school? Were you behaving well for Mommy?” Carter asks as he picks her up and hugs her.
“She was a little excited but she behaved well in school,” Said the lady. Carter kisses her on the lips after putting down Ruby.
“I take it the school wasn’t too hard today, Zia?” He asked.
She sighs, “Just the usual. It’s what you expect from teenagers.” She looks at us, “Ah, Percy! Annabeth! So good to see you again.”
“Hey Zia, we need your help in a situation. It involves curses.”
“Then I take it, you’ll need my help as well?” The other man spoke. He walked up toward Sadie and kissed her. I take it that he’s her husband.
“You know it, Walt.”
Percy and Annabeth explained the situation to Walt and Zia. Meanwhile, I was talking to Lucas.
“I have to say, Lucas, I never knew Doctor Sadie ever had a son before. She never mentioned that.”
“Well, technically, I’m not actually her son.”
“Huh?” I said.
Ruby walked up to Lucas and he picked her up on his lap.
“You see, a couple of years ago, I was brought in due to what happened to my real mother.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?” I asked.
Lucas hesitated for a second and replied. “I… really don’t want to talk about it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, I understand,” I said.
Lucas talked more about himself. He used to live in California. His mom used to be a scientist but was suddenly on the run. At some point, she met up with Sadie and Carter and asked them to protect her son. Since then, Sadie took him in and he’s been family since. Especially to Ruby, he was like an older brother to her.
“I see,” Walt said.
The adults finished talking about my situation.
“So now she’s showing symptoms similar to that of Spider-man. That superhero from those movies.”
“Yeah, and it all started when she saw an artifact in her field trip,” Percy explained.
“The Tablet of Arachnid,” Carter mentioned.
“I see…”
“Mr. Stone?” I spoke. “Are you an expert on Curses?”
“Yes. It’s mostly because my bloodline is cursed as well.”
“Wait really?!” I said.
Walt explained that due to him being a descendant of King Tut, his lineage tends to die very young. Which explains why Sadie never had children. But that left me with one question.
“Wait, if that’s true, then how are you alive?!”
“That’s because I became one with Anubis.”
“…Come again?”
“Walt is a vessel to Anubis, the God of Funerary Rites, protector of Graves, and my husband.”
“… your husband is a god?!” I said.
After explaining the situation with Walt, I was still baffled. Walt and Anubis are technically one person. Like, it’s the Fusion Dance technique but without the time limit. No… wait, that’s not right. It’s more like Naruto and Kurama?
I… I need to figure out a better analogy but this is the best I can come up with.
But one thing is certain.
I am a HUGE fan of Anubis.
“YOU’RE LIKE MY MOST FAVORITE EGYPTIAN GOD EVER!” I yelled. At first, it was due to that movie, The Mummy’s Return and that huge army of Anubis. Of course, as I grew older I realized that movie was terribly inaccurate. Regardless, it's still my favorite.
After a while of me freaking out about Anubis and still contemplating the fact that my doctor is a sorcerer; her brother is the Pharaoh and his wife is the headmaster of a magical school. I swear, each day I’m learning more and more about my brother’s life and the many wonders that were hidden from me.
Ugh, anyways, we all headed toward the library except for Lucas and Ruby. Those two headed off so that the adults could talk to me about my conditions.
“So I did some research on the artifact,” Carter explained. “And I learned some very interesting history about its makers.”
As we reached the library, I was astonished by how massive it was. There were books everywhere and enough to rival even the Public Library here in New York. There were several artifacts that were displayed. There was a staff made of gold and had rings; A bracer with a small blade underneath, hidden; A pair of big old books with locks on them and an arrow with a unique arrowpoint.
“What are these?” I asked.
“Deadly artifacts that we sealed away.” Carter answered and named them. “The Staff of Cleopatra which is said to have a powerful amount of magic in it; The Blade of The Medjay which was used to kill several of the last pharaoh’s servants.”
Okay… That one is definitely familiar to me. Glad Sam’s not here, she’d be all giddy.
“The book of the Dead and the Book of the Living. Said that it can bring back those that died or undo the spell.”
Oh, apparently that also exists. I hope a really bad CGI Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson with a scorpion body and an army of undead anubis warriors doesn’t exist.
“And lastly, this cursed arrow. We don’t know how it functions but for some reason, the majority of people who got hit with it die. Yet, a handful of people survived and say that they see spirits around them.”
“Oh my god, that’s a Stand Arrow!” I yelled. I explained to them what a Stand arrow is, it’s basically an arrow forged from a meteor that unlocks powers from those with strong wills. These powers are called Stands and they vary to different types. I… can’t explain it too much because it’ll take all day. Best you look up Stand Arrow online, it’s quite bizarre.
“So… what you’re saying is that those with strong wills receive these abilities from this arrow?” Carter asked.
“Yeah, though I’m not surprised this also exists in real life too since this confirms my brother being an Alternate Universe Joseph Joestar.”
“Please stop, Estelle!” Percy yelled. “I’m not like that cheating old man! It’s never going to happen!”
“Anyways, let’s get back to our current situation,” Carter said. “The Tablet is over there.”
At the center of the hall was the artifact itself, the Tablet of Arachnid. The very thing that started all this.
“What did you learn?” Walt asked.
“Well… this artifact was made during Ancient Greek time but it was found in a castle in England. How it got there is still a mystery, but I detected two kinds of magic on it. Greek magic and… dark magic.”
“Dark Magic?” I asked. “Like Harry Potter Dark Magic?”
“Not exactly,” Carter explained. “You see, a long time ago, there was a time where myth and reality coexist. But, there were mortals who feared the supernatural, including the gods. They would use magic, weapons and all sorts of methods to put a stop to them. They want to rid this world of all the gods and monsters that exist.”
“Who are these people?” I asked.
“They call themselves the Cult of the Cosmos.”
OF COURSE THEY’RE NAMED AFTER AN ASSASSIN’S CREED VILLAIN!
“Of course…” I muttered.
“Since Ancient Greek, they have been in the shadows pulling the strings in politics, military, kingdoms and more. Hell, they were the ones responsible for World War 2. They used Germany as a scapegoat for their experiments to fight off the gods.”
“Why?” Percy asked.
“They fear the unknown.”
That’s understandable. Not knowing what’s out there can be scary. Heck, we still don’t know what happens after we die. But even so, to sacrifice so many lives to fight off the supernatural is just not right.
What’s the point if innocent lives are lost?
“What were they trying to do?” Annabeth asked.
Carter replied, “… They were hoping to make a philosopher's Stone.”
A Philosopher’s Stone? The Harry Potter kind or the Fullmetal Alchemist Kind because… oh… never mind. I just figured that out.
“And they almost succeeded too. But the war ended before they could finish. Since then, they have been quiet for a long time. But my men have been finding proof that they were still pulling the strings even after the War.”
“So, have they been involved with most of the historic events after WWII?” Percy asked.
“Along with recent events we were involved with.”
“Wait,” Annabeth said. “Are you implying that…”
“The Cult was the culprit for everything. The return of Kronos; Apohis revival; Gaia’s awakening and many more.”
“So what you’re saying… these guys were the reason for all the people we lost in our life…” Percy said, with a lot of anger.
Of course it’s the Nazi’s fault. If Alucard was real, he’d be giddy with joy for being right. Ugh, I hope these cults don’t have vampires or werewolves. Twilight ruined the hype for me.
“We’ll have to talk about them in our next summit. For now, let’s focus on the curse. Walt, can you help me out with this?” Carter said.
Walt nodded and got working on studying the artifact.
There wasn’t really much to it, they used some tools, some magics and even used some books from the library. In the meantime, Zia and Sadie continue checking up on me to make sure nothing unusual is happening to me. They ask me if I started seeing anything strange after the bite. Other than the fact that I can see through the mist and know the truth about the world of Myths and Folklore, not much has changed. Of course, there are the occasional dreams I tend to have, but that shouldn’t be of much importance. Right?
As time passed, Carter and Walt finished and explained what they found on the Tablet.
“I studied the artifact for a bit, but I can tell that this tablet was a spell for Arachne’s revival. Its sole purpose was to find a new host for Arachne, but the magic was incomplete and was unable to achieve its purpose. Instead, it gives whoever it chooses the abilities of a spider.”
“So, there’s no fear of turning into a spider creature or being possessed?” I asked.
“No, you’ll just be, well, pretty much Spider-man.”
I sigh in relief. As much as I love to be Spider-man, I don’t want to turn into a monster or be possessed by Arachne.
“Is there a cure?” Percy said.
“What?!” I yelled. “But Percy, there’s no harm to this. We’re okay.”
“Doesn’t matter, it’s still a curse. Plus we don’t know the full extent of this magic or what it can do to the host.”
“He’s right,” Carter said. “We don’t know the full capability this curse has, nor the limit. It may be a permanent curse that may pass down to your lineage; or a temporary one that can fade away at any moment.”
“But there won’t be any changes physically, right?” I said.
“No, just the magic circles appearing and your fast reflexes,” Carter answered.
“Then there’s no reason to find a cure! I can use this power to protect myself, my parents and Sam! I can-”
“NO!” Percy yelled. We all jumped at the sudden change in his tone. “No… I won’t let that happen.”
“But Percy! You kept this hidden my whole life! This is my family's life. I don’t want to be left to sideline and-”
“I told everyone not to tell you because I want to protect you. You saw what happened to Mr. Stacy. You saw how dangerous the monsters are. You saw how powerful and dangerous us demigods are.”
“But Percy-”
“No… we’re finding a cure and then sending you back home. You will not be part of this life.”
Frustrated, I stormed out of the library and headed outside. I just couldn’t believe Percy. He always said that I was smart and brave. I remember how happy he was when I told him I got straight A’s in my classes. I worked hard for those A’s!
He always believed in me.
So why was this different?
What was he afraid of?