The Golden Amulet (PJO, Sequel to The Silver Ring)

Chapter 2

The room burst into chaos.

With all the yells of doubt, Percy could barely hear himself think.

Lord Zeus just looked on, with an overbearing expression seemingly stuck on his face.

Jason had to shout over the ruckus to be heard by Leo and Percy. "If Lord Chaos himself talked with Father, that might mean whoever we're fighting might be more powerful than the primordials."

Only Leo paled at the sound of his words, while Percy gave Artemis a knowing look.

Percy had to fight hard to not ruin Lord Zeus' moment. He could already imagine it; his smug expression getting replaced with shock, and it would only take six words to do it: "He lets me call him Chaos!"

Maybe it would even humble him . . .

There was no chance. And given the astonished silence the demigods were in yet again, it seemed as though it would open up dozens of cans of worms. Questions would be asked, and answers wouldn't be given, since Percy tried to do his best to forget the traumatizing war.

Especially the moment when Lady Void landed in front of him, disintegrating back to her omnipotent being—

Nope. He wasn't going back there.

He had to do this often. Consistent mental editing. He might've gotten out of there physically, but his mind was just beginning to root itself back into the present.

Artemis was right there in the room, staring at him worriedly. Not in a pool of her own immortal blood.

He forced himself to give her a wobbly smile, and mouth the words, I'm okay.

Nobody else seemed to notice his distraught state. He did his best to bury it, but no matter how he tried to hide it, Artemis always knew.

It was as though she knew what he was thinking.

"As I said, I talked with Lord Chaos." Lord Zeus' voice thundered into his mind, bringing him back into the present. "He will visit Camp Half-Blood, and later, Camp Jupiter, with his team."

Excited murmurs rose. Every demigod would be able to see the Creator of the Universe, which was an achievement not many mortals had. 

But Lady Hera wasn't satisfied. "That's it?" she asked, her voice rising angrily. "You just wanted to flaunt, didn't you? After several millenium, I thought you would change! I can't believe . . ."

"End of the council meeting!" Lord Zeus said hurriedly, the sight of his embarrassed golden cheeks bringing smiles of satisfaction to many. 

Jason lunged at Percy the same time Percy lunged at him. Their hands were outstretched, a hairsbreadth apart from touching . . .

A bright light surrounded Percy, and the next thing he knew was that he was in a forest, all alone.

Percy sighed; it happened every council meeting he ever attended. Being on Lord Zeus' kill list often meant getting teleported to various locations where monsters were. He'd fought hydras, dragons, Karkinos, the Chimera, the Minotaur five times, and the Manticore.

This time didn't look as fatiguing as all the others, especially when he saw a few dracanae and a hellhound a short distance away the same time they saw him.

"Percy Jackson!" one of the dracaena snarled as he uncapped Riptide. "Thisss isss the time for my revenge."

He sighed. "For who? I've just killed so many monsters it's hard to keep track if I killed you or one of your sisters before. And all of ya'll look like identical twins."