Love & Chaos 2: A New Pharaoh for Egypt

Chapter 5

Some Prophecies and Omens

Zia Rashid.

Zia woke, wondering if the connection she was beginning to make of the surname "Goode" was correct. Also, she wondered who else was having these odd nightmares on the Argo II, or if Catherine had singled her out. Senses alert from the dream, she headed to the door, making her way to the spies' cabin.

In discomfort, she raised her hand to gently knock. She didn't know either of the women very well, and they were two of the only real adults on the quest. Chances were that she would just be turned away for waking them at an early hour...

"Who is it?" asked a hushed British accent, pulling open the door, looking at Zia. "Ah. Egyptian girl. What do you need?"

"What do you know of a woman named Catherine Goode?"

Rebecca Baxter's face fell, and Zia knew that she had just come to a bounty of information that no one wanted but everyone needed to hear. "What time is it?"

"Just past three in the morning, I believe," Zia assumed. "Why...?" The older girl pushed past her, into the hallway to Liz and Annabeth's room.

"We all need to have a chat." Rebecca knocked once, and Liz's head poked out immediately. "Get Annabeth; we need a group meeting. Later this morning, we can fill in the Romans."

Liz nodded dutifully, turned and called for Annabeth, and then set out knocking on door and waking up the crew. "Percy! Leo! Carter! Walt! Alex! Zach!"

Zia watched the groggy faces walk out of their rooms, rubbing the sleep from their eyes, wondering why they were being awoken at such an ungodly hour. Such men, she thought to herself. At a time like this they're sleeping less like babies and more like new fathers.

"What's going on?" Carter mumbled to her.

"We're having a meeting. I suppose we're to discuss a woman called Catherine Goode." She took him by the hand and they walked to the Mess Hall.

Liz took her place at the head of the table - looking like she felt rather out of place - and began, "Who here has had a nightmare about one Catherine Goode at any point in the past six months?"

Zia wasn't sure how that was going to help, but she saw Leo Valdez's hand go up awkwardly. Biting her lip, she put hers up as well. In a few moments, she saw that everyone had their hands up, except for Zach, who simply sat with a dead (though not tired) look in his eyes.

Liz nodded in apparent understanding. "So she's haunting the rest of us, but not her son. Makes sense. I think that she wants you to rule by her side if they win the war, Agent Goode."

"I would not be surprised if she did," he agreed.

"What are all of your dreams?" she asked them. Zia told hers first, to which Liz replied, "Awe, how sweet, she basically wants to destroy me. Alright; Carter, care to tell yours?"

"Nothing too different," he admitted, readjusting his hold on Zia's hand. "Except, I didn't have a ba dream. It was more like a straight up... dream. I was standing on the balcony of the Brooklyn House, and I saw Brooklyn and Manhattan both going down in flames. This woman appeared next to me, and she introduced herself as Catherine Goode. She said, 'Carter Kane, you will see the only home you've ever known crumble, and it will be my hand that tears it apart.' I couldn't move... at all. Like that nightmare when you can't so much as flinch, you know?"

Liz nodded. "Mine was like that, too. She isn't just threatening us; she's terrorizing our whole crew."

Alex shifted uncomfortably. "My dream... I didn't see her, but I recognized her voice from some tapes we'd listened to before on terrorists. She said, 'You should have saved her, but you failed. Now you will fail all of them. Alex, you were destined for failure, and now you will see them lose their precious war. Liz Noel isn't waiting for you. She's burning in Punishment.' And that's what she showed me. Liz. Burning in Punishment."