display her personality (such as combat boots) rather than to conform or aid her magic. Her magical specialty is with spells, potions, and hieroglyphics. One of her favorite spells is Ha-Di, which means to destroy. Walt Stone Walt Stone is one of the twenty-first Nome's initiates, who arrives at Brooklyn House sometime between the first and second novel. He has dark skin and is from Seattle, where he lived with his mother. Walt is a sau, or charmmaker. In The Throne of Fire, it is revealed that Walt has inherited a deadly curse from his ancestor Akhenaten, which will kill him before reaches adulthood, as it did to his father and their famous ancestor King Tut. The curse progresses more quickly when he uses magic, which is why he specializes in charms and also why he begins to call on the god Anubis for guidance. In The Serpent's Shadow, Walt finally succumbs to the curse, but as he dies he allows himself to become the host of Anubis, whose spirit can essentially keep him alive. Both Anubis and Walt Stone have romantic feelings for Sadie Kane, which makes it easier for Walt to host Anubis. In The Staff of Serapis, Sadie tells Annabeth Chase that it's confusing dating both of them while they are merged, although she has accepted it. Zia Rashid Zia Rashid is a magician from the first Nome who was born and raised in Egypt. She is found and raised by Iskandar, the Chief Lector, after the destruction of her hometown by Apophis. When Julius Kane released five gods through the Rosetta Stone, she became the unexpected host of Nephthys, and was subsequently placed by Iskandar in an underwater prison so the House of Life could not eliminate her. A shabti of her was created to take her place; it is destroyed during the fight with Set in The Red Pyramid. Carter Kane falls in love with this shabti and seeks out the real Zia to free her and release Nephthys's spirit. Zia, who specializes in fire magic, later becomes the host of Ra and the two manage to destroy Apophis in The Serpent's Shadow. Her initial indifference to Carter slowly evolves into romance, and the two begin dating at the end of the series when Ra ascends back to the heavens. Amos Kane Amos Kane is Julius Kane's younger brother, Carter and Sadie's uncle, and the