I hated teleportation. I hated being the host of a goddess. I hated being destined to die from King Tut's disease. And I hated my life. Not necessarily in that order.

       We had teleported in the middle of dinner, standing on one of the tables. I had a foot in Amr's pizza. Carter's shoe was in the salad bowl. And Ayan had her Amulets in a glass of juice. Too many eyes were looking at us, too many to count. Amr stood up and smiled at us.

"I see you four have returned from your trip. Where is Aria and Don?" He asked.

Ayan sneered. "Teleportation issues."

Amr's eyes burned. It looked like he was ready to press her for questions, but he noticed the dozens of other magicians.

"Very well," he decided, "As for the rest of you, off to bed! Good night, my little heroes!"

     They groaned and stood up, gripping their weapons as they walked off to their dorms. Ayan didn't waste time. She grabbed her Amulets, shaking off the lemonade, hopped off the table as nimble as a cat, and started to run to the dorms.

"No," Amr said.

Ayan immediately stopped, like Amr's voice controlled her.

"We shall talk. In the Great Hall." He walked off to the east wing, as Ayan growled and walked off with him.

Carter, Alyssa, and I sat down. As soon as we did, the plates around the tables were whisked up by rubber gloves. They were disembodied hands with a plastic gloves fit around them, carrying sponges filled with soap. They would scrape off the leftovers through midair, the food disappearing, scrub around the plates, douse it with water, and set it down, going around the table.

Once they hit the table, it splashed around us, flicking dish soap and sponge fibres in my mouth. They finished our table, moving onto the next one.

Alyssa looked around, checking if the gloves would notice. She took out her palm wood wand, summoning a small fire from the tip, about the size of a candle flame. The fire elementalist dried the dishes, melting the rim of the plate. I imagined a cheese pizza, full of pepperoni. I took a bite, letting the piece burn my mouth.

Aria and Don appeared next to us, sitting down between me and Alyssa. Aria's plate had a hot dog on it, and Don's had  a cheeseburger.

"What were you and Ayan talking about?" Carter asked.

Don looked down at his burger. "Just-" He took a shaky breath. "Nothing."

"It's about Amr, isn't it?" I said. "You said that his time was up?"

Alyssa poked at her tofu dessert, jiggling on the plate. "Once Amr retires, Ayan will be in charge. She will be the new Chief Lector."

My shoulders tightened. "What's wrong with that?"

Alyssa looked around again. "She thinks that you and the new recruits are hosts of the gods."

"What about that?"

"The house Of Life swore off work with the gods. Only fighting them or thanking them for blessings." Don said. "It was too dangerous. Cleopatra was the host of Isis, and she lost Egypt to Rome. The house of Life now cares nothing for the gods except being their patrons; we want nothing to do with them."

"But if we don't, Set will rule the world!" Carter protested.

Alyssa's jaw tightened. "All we can do is hope for the best. The last couple of centuries, magicians had nothing to do with gods, and Set was defeated." Alyssa looked away. "Except for a couple of years ago......."

"What? What is it?" I asked.

           "A few years ago, you probably weren't even more than 7, two magicians broke into the Alexandria museum and tried to free the gods; the children of Nut and Geb, to be exact. They failed horribly, one of them risked their lives for the foolish stunt, and they were shunned from The House. The one who survived was outraged. He started a new nome, the Twenty- Fifth, in your community. We tried to track the traitor  down, but he went from country to country, escaping every Nome in the area." Alyssa said in a hushed tone.

I admired the magicians: they wanted to make a difference and save the world, they were heroic, but they were outcasts once they failed. I had been in detention with Aria too many times for speaking my mind, for being myself. When I was in 4th grade, I said that we should be able to got to the cafeteria, since only the Middle schoolers at St. Agnes Academy had the right. A nun had washed my mouth with soap, saying that a lady like me shouldn't be saying such things. I moved schools with Aria after that.

     To this day, I still have the urge to punch any nun I see walking down the street.

Carter dropped his burrito. "Foolish? Foolish?"

"They disobeyed the house. They were lucky Nafeer, General of combat, took mercy on them. He gave up a few years after the episode, and let them live in peace, though their actions were worthy of death." Don said.

Carter stood up. "My- those magicians risked their lives to save the world! If the house, possibly, would have helped them unleash the gods, they would have lived! They wouldn't had to lose a life to the Duat! Those magicians were heroes! They were the first in almost 80 years to have successfully located the Gods!"

Alyssa blinked. "Carter, that- that's very true."

"And accurate." Don added.

Alyssa shook her head, as if trying to erase Don's comment from her mind. "That's true. The last time the gods defeated Set was back in World War II, 80  years ago. Without those rebels-"

Carter fumed.

Alyssa cleared her throat. "I mean, heroes. Without them, we would have no idea where the gods are. Without their risk, the next hosts would have no idea where to look, in order to save the world." Alyssa stood up, bouncing up and down. "Carter, you're a genius! That analysis was absolutely brilliant!"

Carter sat back down, tamed.

Don patted his chest with his fist. "A real Thoth, dude."

"Thoth?" Carter asked.

"The God of wisdom and knowledge. In fact, he founded The House." Alyssa answered.

"Oh." Carter smiled. "Thanks, man."

"Wait," Aria piped up, "if Thoth founded the House, then shouldn't there be some more appreciation for the gods? I mean, without them, Monsters would be running around the world."

Alyssa pursed her lips. "Not exactly. Some gods are good in general: Isis, Horus, Nepthys, Hathor, Geb, Shu, Nut; mainly peaceful. But Serqet, Sekhmet-" She frowned, like she forgot. "I can't quite remember their names, but the Vulture Goddess and Baboon god are also bad. Bes was one of the most reliable creatures to banish them."

"Sekhmet would kill people, even peaceful monsters, for no good reason. The people would mix wine and Juice, to colour it red, and she would drink it all, thinking it was blood. She would pass out, and she would turn into the cow goddess, Hathor. That was her counterpart, you see, and Ra would take her back to the heavens." Don said.

"Was that just a fun fact to know and tell, or is there a point to this?" Aria said, sleep settling in her eyes.

"Main point: Ayan figures that you three will follow the footsteps of them. She thinks that you're hosts of the gods, and you'll bring the fall of the House." Don summed up.

"Don, Alyssa," Amr called from the East wing. "Come down to the Great Hall. Now."

Alyssa stood up, polishing off her last bit of tofu, and grabbed Don's shirt collar.

"Don't make things worse." She growled. She let go of the collar, making him, bump into Aria.

Alyssa stormed off, Don trailing behind her. He looked back, a smile on his face. "Don't worry, Carter."

He turned around and walked away.