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

Chapter 10

"I told you not to believe him!" Gruff Voice exclaimed. "And what do you do? You believe him! He was way too confused. The higher-ups have the full stronghold mapped and memorized."

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Levine asked. "Say, 'Oh, you're not a major, and I don't believe you'? That's an easy way to get kicked out! Besides, I didn't see you going out and challenging him."

Percy couldn't believe they hadn't seen him yet, especially since they were a foot away from him, and he was pretty tall, even when crouching. He slowly moved so he was staring at them—and they still didn't notice him. Either he was just that good at camouflaging in plain sight—or they were too enraptured in their conversation.

Gruff Voice waved Levine's point away. "I asked him for his code. Anything more than that is a violation of authority.

"Again: what was I supposed to do? You have a higher rank than me, and you were scared too—admit it."

"What's done is done," Gruff Voice said dismissively. "We should go tell Captain Aurelia before it's too late."

They finally saw him—only it was more of a realization after Levine almost tripped over him.

"Now what're you doing here?" Gruff Voice asked Percy. 

Now, Percy—who knew they wouldn't have just walked past him—had come up with another plan, and just like his other ones, there was a high chance of failure which would basically translated into him dying. But if his prayers to Chaos meant anything, Gruff Voice and Levine were probably more gullible and stupid than he was.

The plan capitalized on the darkness; the closest torches were far enough that the corner Percy was crouching in was almost swallowed by shadows—along with his clothes, and most importantly, his face. All one could do to identify him as a friend or an enemy was how he talked, and the content of his speech, which was exactly why Percy used his regular voice—completely different from his commanding"Major Rodriguez" one.

Percy made a show of snapping a salute, as if he had suddenly realized Gruff Voice outranked him. "Sir! I've been stationed here to keep an eye out for the escaped captive, and lest he tries to assassinate the generals I—along with a few others—are tasked with killing him!"

Gruff Voice puffed out his chest, like it was the first time he actually outranked a stranger and had authority over them.  "Who gave the order for you to be stationed here? And why the hell are you trying to hide? You surprised this soldier over here." He motioned towards Levine.

Percy fought down the urge to uncap Riptide; Gruff Voice had gotten smarter, and the chances of his plan working had decreased significantly.

"Why, er, Major Rodriguez, of course!" Percy said, acting proud. "He said he would promote me if I would do two favors for him: give him my uniform and stay here."

This was the most make-or-break part of the plan; either they wouldn't believe him—and subsequently he would get captured, or they would buy it hook, line, and sinker.

Chaos might've taken pity on him, because it was the latter.

"Major Rodriguez, eh?" Levine commented, sharing a look with Gruff Voice. "And favors? Looks like we're not the only ones who got hoodwinked. He told you to give him your uniform? Are you naked?"

"Of course not!" Percy scoffed. "I changed into another set of clothes beforehand."

"I hate to break it to you lad, but you're not getting a promotion anytime soon," Gruff Voice told Percy as he offered him a hand to help him up. "Apparently, we have an imposter loose in the base, and he might actually look like one of us now. C'mon, we ought to tell an officer so they can mobilize some sort of unit to catch him. Say . . . the imposter might even be the escaped captive, which would knock two birds with one stone."

"There's Cap'n Aurelia right there." Levine pointed into headquarters, where the woman was making her way out of a tunnel opposite of theirs, casually wiping some blood off of a dagger. "Looks like she's done interrogating the captives for now."

That tunnel must lead to where Rosaline is being kept, Percy thought, worry flashing through his mind at the thought of her blood on Aurelia's dagger. It wasn't a far fetched possibility, especially since the blood was silver—a color only primordials bled.

"You guys go ahead and do that, I'll stay here and guard the tunnel," Percy said, hoping to run towards the tunnel which supposedly led to the captives the moment they turned their heads—but no such luck.

"You're coming with us," Gruff Voice told him. "She can't get mad at all of us, and she can't fire all three of us if it gets to that point. It'll cause military unrest."

"I have a really bad history with Captain," Percy said, trying his best to weasel his way out. "I'll only make things worse."

"We all do. It's not like she's the resident mother of the army." Gruff Voice tightened his hold on Percy's arm. "You coming or not?"

Percy raised his hands in mock surrender. "If you think it'll work, I'm up for it. Let me just grab my things first." He crouched—but in the same fluid movement uncapped Riptide and spun around, hitting Gruff Voice on the head with a solid blow with the Celestial Bronze hilt of his sword.

Getting the edge on one's opponent was tough enough when they were already a bit suspicious of one already—and it was impossible to sneakily knock two people that were already a bit suspicious of one, which was why Percy had to choose between knocking out the recruit, Levine, by surprise or the more experienced soldier, Gruff Voice. He choose the latter, since in the split second he made the plan and executed it, his chances with defeating Levine in a fight before he could yell for help was significantly better. In retrospect, Levine was younger and more skittish, which meant there was a higher chance he would run—and faster at that than Gruff Voice, too.

This was what exactly happened as Gruff Voice's limp body thumped onto the dirt floor. In a mere moment, before Percy could react, Levine dashed out of the tunnel into headquarters, screaming for help.

All the soldiers in the room immediately reacted, turning towards the tunnel Percy—frozen in shock at how fast his plan fell apart— was in with their swords drawn.

Percy gulped. If his chances didn't look good with two soldiers, he was already six feet under with a hundred.