The Silver Ring (PJO)

Chapter 19

In movies, when a kingdom is hit by a surprise attack during breakfast, immediately all the soldiers go out to fight.

That just happened in the movies.

In real life, it was a bit different.

The guard's words just hung in the air, and nobody moved for a few seconds, trying to get over the shock. As far as I knew, Atlantis had never been attacked without reason in the past; the army, walls, defenses, and literally everything was intimidatingly strong. 

But then, the chaos began. The thousands of soldiers started running around, strapping their gear on and grabbing their weapons. Some quickly shoved all of the food on their plates into their mouths, knowing that they needed all the energy they could have. They looked like squirrels with their mouths full of nuts. Everybody started yelling at once, the higher-ups in the army giving orders to their troops, while others yelling out defense strategies like, "Alpha 5H," "Epsilon 2," and even "Catapult."

Dad said something, but it was drowned out in the chaos. 

"What did you say?" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Go hide in my bedroom!" Dad yelled. He made his signature trident appear in his hand, which looked very menacing and powerful, making me gain confidence that the soldiers could fight off the invaders. 

Five guards appeared next to Dad, armed-to-the-teeth. One of them could probably fight off twenty regularly-armed men. 

Dad said something to them that I couldn't quite hear. The leader nodded then gestured for the rest of us to follow him through a side door.

By now, almost all of the guards had exited the dining hall, ready to give up their lives for the kingdom. Dad kissed Mom's cheek and quickly followed the last of the guards sprinting out of the door, ordering them to different positions like a war general.

I probably would've followed, but I was concerned about Mom's safety. I knew she could hold her own, but it was better safe than sorry. 

We arrived in a narrow hallway devoid completely of life. I could still hear shouting, which was quickly fading away, meaning that the only protection we had were the five guards.

I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it, keeping it ready for action. The captain and one other guard were in the front, leading us, while the other three were behind us.

We arrived in an intersection with four hallways. The captain turned to the left. 

Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching the intersection from the right. I turned that way, my sword drawn. 

Mom, Nico, Triton, and the rest of the guards didn't seem to hear them and followed the captain.  

"Triton!" I yelled. "Do you hear the footsteps?"

Triton didn't turn around, as though he didn't hear me. Even weirder, the rest kept walking as though I wasn't there.

"Mom?" I yelled desperately.

She too didn't answer, only kept walking. They soon turned out of my sight, leaving me alone with a mysterious person who was fastly approaching. I was torn between running after the guards or staying to deal with the intruder, but before I could decide, the footsteps stopped.

I turned to the hallway they were coming from, my hands clenching tightly on the hilt of my sword.

A different guard rounded the corner, making me heave a sigh of relief that it wasn't a bad guy. Although, my guard went up again when I saw the panicked expression on his face, as though there was someone chasing him. When he saw me, he relaxed.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. 

"Prince Perseus!" he shouted with joy. "You're okay!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, confused. "I was with my family and we had several guards leading  us to my father's bedroom."

The guard now had a confused look on his face. "I was part of a group of guards who were protecting out lord's bedchambers. The rest of the royal family came, but you weren't with them. I was sent with two other soldiers to look for you in different sectors of the palace."

"How long has it been since you started searching for me? And where is the bedroom?"

The guard pointed behind him towards the hallway he had entered the intersection from. "About five minutes that direction, Sire. It's been about,"—he looked upwards, trying to calculate—"fifteen minutes or so."

I was slowly starting to understand what was going on. The people attacking us had made an illusion in order to divide me from my family. That meant that the enemy was more powerful than we thought, since I was pretty sure I was following my real family for a little bit.

"I was following them at first—"

I got interrupted by multiple pairs of footsteps coming closer, with shouts following. I turned to the guard, who had a fearful expression on his face. 

"We have to get you back to your family, Prince!" he exclaimed, then started to run. I chased after him, furtively checking behind us to see if I could catch a glimpse of the unknown people.

That was my first hint that something was wrong. Rather than going through the passage the soldier had come through—which he had told me was the way to the bedchamber—he ran through the passage my "family" had gone through. Unfortunately, I was so worried about the footsteps that I blindly followed him.

Little did I know that mistake would get me into deadly danger.