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

Chapter 28

Rosaline stalked closer to me as my muscles refused to move as though I was rooted firmly into the ground with fear. I knew she wouldn't maim me too much; after all, she still needed me for the mission. Maybe a punch to the face, or a karate chop to the neck to knock me unconscious? I certainly deserved it.

However, Rosaline stopped a few steps from me and noticed that Artemis was present. "I'm assuming Chaos sent you," she stated calmly, but I could still tell she was angry on the inside.

"Actually, I forced him into it," Artemis said in amusement. "I swear, he's more scared of his creations than proud of them."

"And it's probably safe to assume I can't pummel Percy for worrying about me."

Artemis shook her head. "Unfortunately, I can't let you do that. However, I still have a feeling that if I wasn't here, you still wouldn't touch him." She turned towards me, catching me in the act of trying to sneak away silently. "I'm afraid I have to go. Duty calls; Zeus wants me to go hunt some monsters he's paranoid about." She rolled her eyes like she was a teenager whose dad had told her to skip a party and instead mow the lawn.

"Can I come with you?" I begged her.

"I thought you wanted to finish the mission."

"I've changed my mind. Especially since I don't like the way Rosaline's glaring at me . . ."

"If you give up on the mission, I'm keeping you in my palace for a month."

"You know what?" I said quickly. "I think I can manage to finish the mission." As much as a little bit of quality time with Artemis sounded good, there were three problems: first, a month was not little. In fact, it was the exact opposite of little; and secondly, I had been to Artemis' palace before. Everything was pure silver. And I don't think my eyes could handle looking at shiny silver everywhere for thirty days. In addition, I couldn't just ask Artemis to switch the color to a more calming one, like blue, because she hated that color (A few years ago, Artemis had asked me what my favorite color was. I said blue, and she seemed to be traumatized. Apparently, her hate of the ocean did not stem from the fact that the ruler was her father's rival; in fact, it was because it was blue); and thirdly, it wasn't like I was going to have a chance to step outside and clear my head. Artemis was generally a very possessive person, and if she had me for a month, she wouldn't allow me to get out of her sight, save for the times she had to go to council meetings or to hunt monsters—but during those times, she would make sure I was stuck in her castle.

And in the fact it was supposed to be more of a punishment than a gift so I would stay on the mission, there was no way I was going to accept. 

However, when Artemis disappeared after giving me one last hug, I regretted that choice.

I studied Rosaline warily. "I'm not going to have to run, am I?"

Rosaline's glare became sharper. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me what happened and caused you to go missing for three hours?!"

"Why don't you ask your resident crybaby?" I asked sourly.

Rosaline became confused, and her glare disappeared. "Psi? What about him?"

"What did he tell you about what happened?" 

"He came back only an hour ago, saying that you never appeared out of the house. No noise, no nothing. He waited as long as he could, but he had to run when soldiers started surrounding him . . ." Rosaline trailed off as she realized something. "Wait. Psi was lying?!"

"Apparently." I was surprised at how much anger was in my voice as I explained what had truly happened, from the time Psi incapacitated me, then Void soldiers capturing me, and finally my conversation with Chief Katuni, which proved that he hadn't called reinforcements to capture us in the map house.

In the end, Rosaline was once again as furious as a bull who had seen a red article of clothing—but now not at me, but instead at Psi. "I can't believe it!" she seethed, clearly believing it. "Firstly, he tries to kill you, when I've told him multiple times I'd kill him if he were to kill you—and then he proceeds to do it anyway, ending off with lying to my face?!"

"Sounds about right," I agreed. Truthfully, I was relieved; the story sounded far-fetched, but I never should've doubted Rosaline's belief in me. 

"I'm going to kill him!" Rosaline marched towards the door, exactly like how she marched out of the door to "kill" me. She had switched her subject of torture faster than a car could turn one-eighty degrees. 

But when she was about to swing open the door, she paused and looked at me. "Why aren't you stopping me?"

"What?" I asked, confused. 

"You usually stop me, right as I'm going to pummel my target. I thought you knew I don't actually punish anybody—only the threat of being punished makes a bigger impact than any physical abuse."

"I was hoping you would kill him this time," I admitted, a bit disappointed she was not planning to do that. "He kicked me in the balls. That's a no-go. I couldn't feel my lower body for what felt like an hour."

"That bad?" Rosaline asked, genuinely concerned. 

"Well, he wasn't looking to do me any favors. It's quite an effective move," I had to admit. "But I wish he didn't execute it on me."

Rosaline sighed. "I'll have a conversation with him. And don't worry; it'll be long, dreary, and take up a significant chunk of time. Meanwhile, why don't we get you inside? I don't want to see you bawling on the floor with tears just because you saw the moon disappear at sunrise." She led me into the cottage, into the kitchen, where only Adriana was present. She was at the dining table, enjoying the surplus of food by eating yet another apple.

"I don't bawl for symbolism," I said, a bit grumpy at her accusation. "If I'd be bawling, it'd be because Artemis disappeared."

Rosaline patted me on the shoulder. "Sure, sure, buddy. You must be hungry?"

"Yes," I said. "And a desire to kick Psi where the sun doesn't shine."