The Silver Ring (PJO)

Chapter 37

The next morning, I woke up seemingly late, since the sun was shining full force into my room. I quickly got dressed, happy that I wasn't sore. That would be the last thing I needed; knowing my luck, I'm probably going to have to fight the soldiers off.

The feeling of trepidation in my stomach did nothing to head these emotions.

I hurried over where I knew Chaos would be, noticing that there were no guards in sight. I frowned: My room was nowhere near the center of the palace, and the plan had detailed that there would be at least one guard guarding the hallway.

I sped up, entering the Situation Room—only to freeze in my tracks when I saw the dozens of commanders circling Chaos, giving him information. I saw Omega ten feet to their right, alone, and looking at a map of the palace.

When I reached him, he said, "Good morning, sleepyhead." 

I rolled my eyes; even Omega— the most powerful and most serious commander—had started teasing me. "How many shifts did I sleep through?"

"The second will be ending in a few hours. Although fighting with Rosaline does that to you."

"Did you change the plan?" I asked since Omega was supposed to be outside for the full day. 

"A little." He gestured towards the map. "I'm staying here for a bit, but going back when the third shift goes."

I perused it carefully. It was a detailed map, labeling all the guard routes. I observed most of the soldiers on the perimeter, just like I had been told, but the other soldiers that needed were supposed to guard the corridors were now obliged to . . .

"They're guarding the treasury?" I asked. "Wouldn't just putting them in the hallways suffice? They'll guard more things than just one room."

"Yes and no. We've got intel that Void's interested in the treasury for some reason." When I opened my mouth to respond, he quickly added, "The source is classified."

"Alright," I said with resignation. "Anywhere I can help?"

"Since you're so worried about the passageways, why not guard those?" Omega said. "I'm pretty sure we won't need any other soldiers patrolling the corridors if you're there."

I wanted to argue, but some sense told me not to. I sighed. "Why not?"

~~~

Patrolling empty hallways gets mind-numbing.

It felt as though I was wasting my time because no one passed through the hallways unless you counted the onslaught of soldiers switching shifts as foot traffic. 

One hour into the third shift, I finally gave up and sat in an alcove the branched off of Funnel Way, the castle's most-traveled passageway. It was the shortest path to almost every room since it was in the center and hundreds of halls connected to it. I figured I would be able to hear anybody on almost every path.

But after an hour of still silence, I began to think that Chris had fed me faulty information. But that thought led to another which was even worse: What if Void's attack wasn't on the palace itself, but the planet? 

As more and more minutes passed by, I eventually convinced myself that I had been wrong. I prepared to head to Chaos but then was interrupted by something.

Or rather, someone. A person quickly walked through the hallway, passing me without noticing I was there. He looked around nervously, as though he didn't want to be caught. The only reason I didn't go question him was that he was wearing a Chaos soldier uniform.