The Crown of Ptolemy

The Crown of Ptolemy

by Rick Riordan

Annabeth Chase dreams of her mother, Athena, telling her that there is trouble brewing. Annabeth and Percy Jackson take a ferry to Governors Island in New York Harbor. When they become trapped on the island by Setne (who is attempting to become a god using spells in the Book of Thoth), they try to contact Carter and Sadie Kane but fail. Annabeth and Percy decide to face Setne alone, but are immobilized by the magician. Setne summons the goddess Wadjet in order to consume her essence and take the Crown of Lower Egypt from her, becoming master of essentially one-half the Egyptian world. Setne then disappears.

The Kanes finally arrive and help the demigods track down Setne. Carter and Annabeth decide that they need to combine attacks to defeat him. Since Percy's sword has been absorbed by Setne, Carter gives Percy his wand, which turns into a kopis. Sadie and Annabeth teach each other a little magic, and Annabeth loans Carter her invisibility cap. When the quartet relocate Setne, he is trying to summon the goddess Nekhbet, guardian of the crown of Upper Egypt. Even with Nekhbet's help, they are unable to stop Setne from taking Nekhbet's crown, so the group retreats. Nekhbet insists that Setne must not be allowed to make himself a god and the four teens join forces with her.

After a brief discussion, Percy reluctantly agrees to let Nekhbet use him as a host in a last ditch attempt to defeat Setne. They attack Setne for the third time, playing to each other's strengths and Setne's vanity to keep the magician distracted. Carter casts a spell on Setne to trap him in a snow globe, and Nekhbet takes back her crown. Percy retrieves his sword, and Annabeth tells Sadie that she has begun to forget all the Egyptian magic she learned. Percy and Annabeth decide to not tell [[Camp Half-Blood]] about their adventure, fearing the consequences of mixing Greek and Egyptian magic, although the four do decide to keep in touch. The Kanes and Greek demigods then go their separate ways.