The Remembrance of Chaos (PJO)

Chapter 13

Artemis faced the approaching guard, while Percy stood still, looking longingly into the darkness. If they had just  a bit longer, they could have escaped. How did the guard even spot them in such a ruckus?

Percy was resisted the temptation to start running. He knew that Artemis would try to salvage the situation, and if it did not work, they would go with Plan B, which was exactly what he wanted to do.

"Yes?" Artemis asked casually and confidently, without a hint of doubt in her voice. That was why Percy did not turn around; while Artemis would act like she did not do anything wrong, Percy's face, hands, eyes, and even posture would show he was hiding something. It was a bit too late in the night for him, and he just was not good at it. He preferred fighting, or even running.

At least I can do those things, Percy thought.

"What are you doing here?" The guard's voice came from the same place, although a bit closer, as if she had stopped approaching. Presumably, the other guards had also noticed—either the guard's shout or them moving—since they had stopped fighting. In doing so, the sole guard which had approached them could talk normally.

"We're just here . . . ," Come on, Artemis, Percy prayed. "For a jog." Artemis finished.

There was a pause, as though the guard was scrutinizing their attire carefully. With their swords on their waists, even Percy had to admit they looked suspicious, like undercover spies, and not like joggers.

"A jog?!" The guard said unbelievingly. "Why couldn't you just run around the city? It's more than a thousand square miles."

Percy was shocked at the number. Who needed that much space? This further validated Percy's proven theory of End's city being built with her power—the bricks were too new. For a large scale building project like that (calling it "large" was understating the area size)it would take centuries, even if you had a workforce that was tens of millions large. Sculpting all the stones would take even more time, probably decades.

With all that time, and all the weather difference, the stones would crack, and would have to be replaced. Some stones would be newer looking, and some would be older. But all of the stones looked brand new, as if someone had mortared them in a day before.

The truth was, humans were too inefficient, and plenty of battles would be waged during the time it would take to finish. The thing that worried Percy wasn't if the walls would fall on him right that second, if his theory was wrong. It wasn't even the possibility that he had probably eaten too much last night. No. It was much worse; if End had made the full wall out of basically nothing, she then had unfathomable power. 

It kind of made sense, since Chaos had nearly infinite, and if End was the sister of Chaos—which was looking more and more feasible . . .

Then that meant Percy was going into a fight without any prior knowledge, facing an opponent that could doubtlessly smash him into pulp.

The only good news was Chaos; he was on their side, and he was the Creator.

There was a slight problem, though: they had to find Chaos, fast, before End caught up to them. And their goal was quickly going out of their sight; they could not talk to Chaos, which meant Chaos didn't know their location. The only other option was to go to him, but he was on another planet.

Percy's life was worse than a maze; it was a tangle of problems. 

And sadly, he was used to it.

"We felt like going outside of the city walls for once," Artemis said. If Percy was the guard, he would have bought Artemis' smooth lies, which, in retrospect, was what the guard was doing. "The swords are for any danger we might cross."

"Why is your friend facing away from us?" The guard then asked. It was apparent that she had accepted Artemis' story, but there was one thing Percy had just thought of, and needed to talk to Artemis about it urgently.

"He's very shy. He also isn't very . . . patient." Percy tapped my foot impatiently, just in case the guard was looking for proof. Artemis was on a roll; first, she had started a cover story without much hesitation (she did not make a cover story in her plan, since the whole solution—which was borderline improbable—was basically an impromptu act), then followed it after several questions, not stuttering or going off track. 

It was an Oscar-worthy performance. 

If they had a lying-under-the-pressure-of-getting-killed award.

There was another lengthy pause, as if the guard was thinking about letting them go or not. Or Artemis had silently knocked the guard unconscious, but Percy wasn't going to check.

As the time ticked on, his heartbeat increased to the point that Percy wondered if the guards could hear it. He prayed to anyone who was listening to let the guard start talking before his heart exploded. He wasn't sure if that could happen, but he didn't want to be the first to try it out.

"Okay, you can go," The guard finally said, although a bit reluctantly, as though she didn't want two people wandering around outside of the city. "Just . . . be careful."

"We will," Artemis said. She started walking towards the gate again, and Percy followed once she was in front. The moon was still out, and it seemed to shine brighter when they crossed through the gate. Percy would've been in awe at the beautiful silver of the moon if he hadn't been so stressed. All of his hairs stood on end, as if at any moment someone was going to shoot an arrow at his back.

Apparently the guard had walked back to her place, since Artemis started talking. 

"What an incompetent guard," Artemis said.

Percy looked at her curiously, but it was impossible for her to see it in the night. "What do you mean? She asked you all the right questions."

"Questions yes, but she seemed to forget about two wanted people." Artemis snorted. "Heck, the barkeeper was better at following orders."

"He was scared of losing his inn," Percy countered. "Of course he would listen to the queen."

"True, but the guard should have at least asked us to step into the torchlight," Artemis said. "What's more likely; an enemy escaping out of the town, or staying inside the town?"

Percy was going to agree with her, but then a thought crossed his mind. A thought that made him concerned.

"Not unless there's anything out there."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it; Planet End—the planet that End built would only have her city, right?"

"Right."

"So it either would be the size of her city . . . "

" . . . or just extra empty space," Artemis finished, realizing what he was saying. "If what you think is correct, then . . . "

"Our whole 'escape End's city and live temporarily in another one' plan isn't going to work," Percy said sadly. "Because there isn't another one."

A/N-Hope all of you are enjoying the story. Thank you so much for the support and please star this chapter if you like it. Feel free to leave any suggestions, and have a good day!