War Against Apophis

The War With Apophis was a war that was waged between the forces of Ma'at and Chaos with Chaos led by Apophis.

A Vision and Desperate Actions
Being a diviner, Ruby Kane had a vision of Chaos rising and the return of Apophis. Ruby shared her visions with Chief Lector Iskandar and her husband Julius Kane, however, Iskandar refused to do anything about it though it shook his beliefs. While the Path of the Gods was forbidden, Ruby realized that they needed the gods if they had any hope of stopping the future she foresaw from coming to pass. Ruby contacted the goddess Isis for advice and though Isis could barely communicate with her, she told her that the gods must be released if they are to stop the rising of Apophis. For their first task, Julius and Ruby decided to release Bast who was locked in eternal battle with Apophis and was losing. They realized that they needed to give Bast time to heal from her injuries so that she would be ready to fight when the time came. Using Cleopatra's Needle, Ruby and Julius opened a gateway to Apophis' prison and offered Bast a way out. Bast took it, but the effort caused more energy to be released than expected and Ruby threw up a shield to protect her husband. Though both Bast and Isis offered her extra power, Ruby knew she would be destroyed if she tried so she relied on her own power. Ruby was able to seal the gate and Apophis once again, but used up all her life force in doing so and burned up. Julius made a deal with Bast to allow her to remain on Earth in exchange for her protecting his daughter and she took on the form of the cat Muffin. The House of Life, outraged by Julius and Ruby's actions, exiled Julius and separated his children so that they wouldn't accidentally trigger each other's powers. They also banned Amos Kane from seeing his family again.

Despite the condemnation of the House of Life, Julius continued his work to release the gods in secret, searching all over the world for an artifact powerful enough to release Osiris. The next stage of his plan was to take on Osiris' spirit and sacrifice himself so that Osiris could return to his place in the Duat and restore order to the Underworld, a first step in restoring Ma'at. Six years after Ruby's death, Julius came upon the idea of using the Rosetta Stone to release Osiris and on Christmas Eve, with his children Carter and Sadie accompanying him, Julius traveled to the British Museum and proceeded to use the Rosetta Stone to summon Osiris. Carter and Sadie ended up drawn to Julius' actions and witnessed the Rosetta Stone explode. Like Julius had hoped, he was able to release Osiris who took him as a host, but Set, Horus, Isis and Nephthys were released as well. Unused to the power he now had, Julius was easily overpowered by Set who took him and Osiris captive in a sarcophagus similar to the one he'd once imprisoned Osiris in. Set attacked Carter and Sadie, but they had been taken as hosts by Horus and Isis who protected them and he fled when Michel Desjardins and Zia Rashid arrived. Unknown to everyone, Nephthys took Zia as a host while Set took Amos Kane as his host in secret. Iskandar found out about Zia being used as a host and entombed her at her old village for her protection, replacing her with a shabti. The release of the five gods also started a chain reaction that resulted in all the other gods being released within a few days.

Manipulation of Set
Having returned, Set set out to gain ultimate power by destroying the North American continent using the Red Pyramid and the power of Osiris to create the greatest storm ever which would wipe all life from the continent. He was aided in this by demons and monsters led by his lieutenant Face of Horror. Unknown to Set, Apophis possessed Face of Horror and was using him to manipulate Set so that he could use the Chaos energy generated by the destruction of North America to escape from his prison. Posing as Amos Kane, Set collected Carter and Sadie from their grandparents house and informed them of their being magicians. After Carter had a vision of Set's plans, Set made Amos leave Brooklyn House, sabotaging the defenses on the way out and go to him, supposedly to find out information so he'd leave the Kanes defenseless. He then sent serpopards to attack, but when Sadie called on "Muffin" to help, she was able to turn into Bast and destroy the monsters. Bast then led them away from the house as it was destroyed. The group came under attack by carriers and then Serqet resulting in the Kanes getting separated from Bast who they believed dead. Zia rescued them from Serqet and they escaped through a portal to the First Nome where Iskandar stopped Desjardins from killing them and ordered them trained. However, while Zia trained them in Luxor, Iskandar died and Desjardins sent magicians after them, forcing them to go on the run again. They escaped to Paris where they reunited with Bast who led them to The Book of Overcoming Set, a spellbook that could give them a way to stop Set who they didn't realize wasn't the true enemy. Returning to North America, they began a trek across the continent towards Phoenix, Arizona where the Red Pyramid was. With help from Thoth, they learned that they needed a Feather of Truth and Set's secret name to use the Book, so they traveled into the Duat where Sadie was able to convince Anubis to give her the Feather. Continuing their journey from New Orleans, they tried to contact Nephthys from the Rio Grande only to be attacked by Sobek resulting in Bast sacrificing herself to send him back to the Duat. They were then reunited with Amos who took them to Las Cruces following messages from Zia and Geb. In Las Cruces, they had to battle Desjardins and Sekhmet, defeating the latter but getting separated from Amos again. Continuing their journey with Zia joining them, they meet with Amos on the road and travel to Camelback Mountain where the Red Pyramid is. Assaulting it, Set reveals himself from Amos and that it is a trap so that he can use the power of Horus and Isis to fuel his storm as well. Carter merges with Horus, becoming the Eye of Horus and battles Set. Sadie tries to free Julius from his coffin, only to get a vision of everything that their parents did that led to this moment, ending with Julius himself appearing before her to tell her to destroy the Pyramid even though it will mean his death. Zia, getting the information from Nephthys, also gives Sadie Set's secret name, the last ingredient she needs for the spell. Sadie becomes the Eye of Isis and teleports herself, Carter, Set, the Pyramid, his army and the magicians that are fighting it to Washington, DC, cutting Set and the Pyramid off from their source of power, the desert and stopping his plan at the last second. As a reenergized Carter holds off Set, Sadie begins the spell with her mother warning her to look out for her true enemy. The spell destroys Set's army and the Red Pyramid, but before she can finish it and banish Set, she realizes that Apophis is in the sky, angry because the power he needed to escape his prison has dissipated. Sadie realizes Apophis is the true enemy, not Set and instead of finishing the spell, uses the Feather of Truth to show Carter and Set Apophis in the sky. The spell is broken and Face of Horror attacks Sadie before being mortally wounded by Carter's khopesh. With his last breath, Face of Horror reveals he is possessed by Apophis and Carter and Sadie realize that Apophis was using him to manipulate Set into releasing him.

The Kanes convey the truth to Set who at first thinks it was a trick, but they convince him of the truth. Rather than banishing Set, they decide to make a deal with him: in exchange for letting him leave, he will have a truce with them until the defeat of Apophis and will work with the gods as in the past he was Ra's strongest lieutenant and an enemy of Apophis. Set agrees and swears on his secret name and Nut's starry elbows. Sadie releases him and he returns to the Duat. Desjardins confronts them, angry that they didn't banish Set and believing that they are being corrupted by Horus and Isis. Carter and Sadie willingly let the gods go, sending them back to the Duat as they want to learn how to use magic as magicians before they host gods again. They inform Desjardins that they will be learning the Path of the Gods and teaching it to others now and ask him to stand with them. Desjardins refuses, but decides that there has been enough destruction for one day and leaves with a warning about not following the Path of the Gods. Carter and Sadie find Zia and Amos still alive as Zia shielded them with a protection circle, but Amos is in bad shape mentally from Set's possession and Zia used the last of her power to shield them and dies. However, her "death" reveals her nature as a shabti and Carter decides to search for the real Zia who will have the shabti's memories. Carter and Sadie quickly flee the scene with Amos and return to the ruins of Brooklyn House, the only safe place they can think of. Shortly thereafter, they are brought to the Duat by Anubis who shows them that their father is now the permanent host of Osiris and they are restoring the Hall of Judgment. Julius explains his actions and reveals that he now has the ghost of his wife by his side in his endeavors. The Kanes then visit the throne room of the gods where Horus, after Carter rejects his offer to become his host again, becomes Pharaoh of the gods and promises the Kanes a gift for their actions. The next morning, they find Brooklyn House restored and Bast resurrected. They then set out to start teaching the Path of the Gods to other young people who are the blood of the pharaohs.

Bringing Back Ra and Zia
In the three months that follow the destruction of the Red Pyramid, Carter and Sadie learn the Path of the Gods while teaching it to other young people who are the blood of the pharaohs. During this time, Carter becomes obsessed with finding the real Zia as he has fallen in love with her and believes she will have a major role to play. Carter and Sadie decide that the best chance to stop Apophis when he does rise is to bring back Ra, the old king of the gods and Apophis' eternal enemy. Eventually, Horus tells Carter to look in the Brooklyn Museum for the Book of Ra, the one thing that can be used to bring back Ra. With the help of Walt Stone and Jaz, Carter and Sadie raid the Museum and find the Book, but accidentally unleash a griffin as well as seven bau known as the Seven Arrows of Sekhmet. In the battle that follows, Jaz banishes the bau, but falls into a coma as a result. Carter is also able to gain control over the griffin who he names Freak. The group learns that they actually only have one-third of the Book and still need to find the other two pieces.

During an attack in London by Nekhbet and Babi, Sadie learns from Anubis that the second part of the Book is in St. Petersburg, Russia in the Eighteenth Nome which is run by Vladimir Menshikov who Desjardins has given permission to hunt them down. With the help of Bes, the attack is thwarted and he joins them in their efforts to get the Book. Bes takes Sadie and Carter to St. Petersburg where they are able to retrieve the Book, but find Menshikov summoning Set so he can learn the binding on Apophis' prison and the defenses of Brooklyn House, revealing that he is working for Apophis. Set reveals their presence, forcing them to release him to hold off Menshikov who releases a tjesu heru on the Kanes. Sadie manages to destroy it, but not before Carter is poisoned. With the help of Set, she gets him back to Bes and Set reveals that the third portion of the Book of Ra is in the Bahariya Oasis in exchange for Sadie giving him back his secret name. He also tells Sadie to tell Carter that Zia's village is called Al-Hamra Makran. Carter, Sadie and Bes escape to Alexandria where Sadie is able to use Carter's secret name to cure him after having a vision of Jaz's ren. Realizing that Zia is hidden in her village, Carter sets out with Bes to find her while Sadie sets out with Walt to Bahariya to find the third portion of the Book of Ra.

Traveling to Bahariya, Sadie and Walt find an entrance to the tombs with the help of Bast and then locate the most likely location of the Book with the help of the ghost of Mad Claude. However, they are unable to figure out how to open the chamber where they believe the Book is and their reluctance to use the netjeri blade Anubis gave Sadie to free his soul angers Mad Claude. Sadie and Walt are eventually able to open the door with sympathetic magic and retrieve the Book, however, Mad Claude leads an army of mummies to attack them. Luckily, in their efforts to open the door, they summoned Ptah who uses an army of rats to destroy the mummies and save them. Ptah tells then opens a portal to their friends and sends them on their way after telling them to use the Great Pyramid to open a portal later.

At the same time that Sadie and Walt work on getting the third section of the Book of Ra, Carter and Bes locate Zia's village. After a brief battle with water demons, they locate Zia's tomb and wake her. Zia's body rejects Nephthys' spirit so they release it into the Nile River and before they can calm Zia, come under attack by Desjardins and Menshikov who imprison Bes. Carter battles Menshikov who starts to turn him into a snake, but Ptah's portal links Sadie and Walt to Bes, freeing him. Bes then blasts away Menshikov and Desjardins, saving Carter. The group is eventually able to convince Zia of the truth and as they have learned of an impending attack on Brooklyn House, she offers to go there to help out while Carter and Sadie enter the Duat to restore Ra. It is agreed to and at sundown, Carter and Sadie enter the Duat to begin their attempt to bring Ra back.

Arriving at the edge of the River of the Night, they find Nekhbet and Babi and Ra's sun boat a wreck. Carter forces the gods to pledge their allegiance to Ra once he returns and sends them away before they board the boat. Traveling down Ra's old path on the River of Night, they encounter Khnum and use the Book of Ra to restore his ren to him and complete the first part of reviving Ra. Traveling through the Lake of Fire repairs the sun boat and they find Bes with Tawaret at the House of Rest. There they find Ra's main self and wake him, but he proves to be old and senile. Unfortunately, they take too long and Menshikov, who is following them, gets ahead of them and they are too late to pass through the gate of the Eighth House of the Night. In order to get more time, they play senet with Khonsu, the moon god. While they succeed in getting enough time to get past the gates of the Eighth House, it results in Bes losing his ren and basically becoming mindless.

Continuing the journey, the Kanes and Ra end up in a cavern over Apophis' prison where Menshikov and demons are working to free him. Menshikov reveals that Ra's last aspect, Khepri acts as the seal on Apophis' prison and summoning him will release Apophis. Desjardins arrives, but instead helps the Kanes, holding off Menshikov while Sadie performs the spell. While they get the last Khepri beetle, Apophis is released as Menshikov warned and takes him as a host. Apophis and Desjardins battle while Carter and Sadie try to help to no avail. Finally, Desjardins uses all of his life force to cast an execration on Apophis. The execration banishes Apophis for a few weeks to a month and Desjardins dies from the effort after making peace with the Kanes. However, getting the Khepri beetle doesn't restore Ra's sanity and the whole thing seems to have been for nothing.

Returning to the mortal world, they find Brooklyn House under attack by Menshikov's forces. The appearance of Ra revitalizes the defenders and even awakens Jaz and Menshikov's forces, led by Sarah Jacobi and Kwai are defeated. However, they flee instead of surrendering and Amos Kane becomes the new Chief Lector. Ra returns to being the Pharaoh of the gods which draws Carter and Sadie the ire of Horus and Isis due to his senile state. Worse, Apophis is now free of his prison and they know he will return soon.