The Red Pyramid Chapter 18 Summary

When Fruit Bats Go Bad

• It's awful rainy weather that day in Paris, so Bast, Carter, and Sadie huddle under a roof in the plaza where the obelisk is.
• Bast presses her hands against Carter's ribcage, says something in Egyptian, and declares his broken rib to be healed.
• Carter asks whether they should be worried about more magicians coming after them, but it's unlikely because a) the artifact needs a 12-hour cool-down period before it can be used again, b) no one will think to look for them in Paris, because that's Desjardins' home, and c) their amulets hide and shield them. Bast could only find them because she's sworn to protect Sadie.
• Next, Carter and Sadie ask how Bast is even alive after her battle with the scorpions. Bast seems touched that they care for her, since she's worked for so many children of pharaohs.
• Bast says that she managed to slip into the Duat to escape, but by the time she made it back to the museum, Sadie and Carter had been captured.
• Carter says that they weren't exactly captured, and Bast asks how long it was before the magicians decided to kill them.
• When Carter says it took about 24 hours, Bast sounds impressed, saying the magicians have become friendlier. They used to obliterate godlings within minutes of finding them.
• Godlings? Whaaa—?
• Sadie answers: it's them. They're the godlings. It's why Desjardins wants to kill them.
• Carter's like, hold the phone, wouldn't they know if they were hosting gods? But then he remembers suddenly being able to fight, plus the voice in his head warning him to hide when Iskandar first met him.
• Sadie notes that the Rosetta Stone supposedly let out five gods when it shattered. Their amulets were supposed to protect them, but instead of running away, Carter and Sadie were sticking around to help their dad, wishing they had the power to do it.
• Bast confirms that they pretty much invited the gods in, which apparently makes a difference.
• Both Sadie and Carter admit that they've been hearing voices.
• Sadie pulls out her amulet, and even though she's probably never heard the term before, she correctly identifies it as the Knot of Isis.
• Then Sadie realizes that in her vision in the Hall of Ages, she saw an image of Isis, and then she was Isis, and then—oh boy, it's Isis in her head, isn't it?
• Carter wonders why a goddess would want to possess his punk sister, but then he thinks about his own situation. He thinks: Horus? And the god answers him in his head. Carter freaks out.
• Bast says that this is good progress. When Carter and Sadie complain about not wanting gods in their heads, Bast clarifies that each of them only has a piece of the god's spirit inside.
• Further, Bast says that their goals are the same: Carter and Sadie want to save their dad by defeating Set, and Isis and Horus want to avenge Osiris by defeating Set.
• Carter asks why, if he's got a god inside him, he's so slow to pick up all the cool powers.
• Bast replies that it'll take practice… or he could let Horus have control.
• Horus talks to Carter in his head and says that Carter could totally trust him with his body, that Horus would take good care of it and defeat Set. Carter's response is: nuh-uh, not happening.
• The conversation turns to Amos, who's been captured by Set. It seems that when Set manifested in the museum, he took Desjardins as his host.
• This is logical, according to Bast, since Desjardins is very powerful and very angry.
• Whatever they're going to do to stop Set, Sadie and Carter have to accomplish it before the third of the Demon Days, which is Set's birthday and the time when his power is strongest.
• Bast says that Sadie and Carter are powerful due to their bloodlines, but hosting gods makes them uber-powerful, and the more they channel the gods, the more powerful they'll become.
• But, Carter asks, the more dangerous it'll become too, right?
• Bast says yeah, it's rare to have the power to successfully host gods, but at this point, they may not be able to survive without the gods' powers. She cautions Sadie and Carter not to repeat their mother's mistake.
• Bast says that when their parents released Bast at Cleopatra's Needle, the energy backlash would've killed them if their mother hadn't thrown up a shield. But it came from her own energy, which burned her up from the inside. Bast had offered to merge with their mother, but she'd refused, and died instead.
• That was unpleasant to hear, but Sadie and Carter are still determined to defeat Set.
• Bast says that there's a rare spell book, a Book of Thoth, that tells of ways to defeat Set, and it's in the possession of a certain magician. Which magician? Desjardins, of course.
• Sadie, Carter, and Bast make their way to his giant house in Paris. Oddly, the front door is red, which is usually a color with bad associations in ancient Egypt.
• Because the house is protected against gods, Bast can't go in. Carter and Sadie can, though, because their humanity makes the spell ineffective against them. Bast suggests that they fly in.
• Since Isis and Horus have bird forms, all Carter and Sadie have to do is imagine they're birds.
• Carter imagines that he's a falcon… and the next time he opens his eyes, he is. The bird standing next to him is Sadie in kite-form.
• Flying feels amazing. Sadie and Carter fly up to the roof of Casa Desjardins and into the library.
• Carter's able to turn back into himself, but Sadie's still a bird. Carter starts looking around on his own, but it's such a huge library that he can't find anything until he asks Doughboy for help.
• Doughboy locates an ancient scroll that he thinks is super powerful. It turns out to be a spell for summoning fruit bats.
• The next thing Sadie and Carter find is a painting of a guy with a lot of facial hair. Doughboy IDs him as Champollion, the dude who cracked the hieroglyphic code using the Rosetta Stone. He's also the great uncle of Desjardins, making Desjardins at least 200 years old.
• Champollion's family was the first non-magical family to stumble upon and work magic, so his descendants have been accepted for training in the House of Life ever since.
• Apparently, this is another reason Desjardins has been so hostile: since he's a newcomer to magic, he's a tad insecure. Plus, destroying the Rosetta Stone was an insult to his family's honor.
• Doughboy finally locates the Book of Thoth, but it's booby-trapped. As soon as Carter grabs it, hundreds of fruit bats drop from the ceiling.
• Carter shoves the book into his bag, turns back into a bird, and he and Sadie get out of there. They find Bast and hit the ground running, pursued by a black cloud of fruit bats. The closest portal is in the Louvre, a few blocks away.