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

Chapter 37

A/N-I'm back! As promised, this is one of the two chapters I will be posting today. Please star this chapter if you like it, and have a good day!

At first, I didn't know what to do.

This might seem weird to you since I was usually an act first, think later type of guy. But my ribs were really hurting, and I wanted to let them heal as fast as possible without getting dunked into water. I was sure that beating up a guy counted as physical labor, which would not suit my ribs.

Plus, everybody here had weapons. I had a sense that the sergeant would immediately draw his weapon if I approached to diffuse the situation. Of course, I could always draw Riptide myself, but there was a serious chance of me getting hurt ever since I wouldn't have my usual strength behind my swings. We didn't have that much time left if I got injured yet again. Furthermore, I wasn't in the mood to maim—or even kill—someone.

So I got up and helped the poor soldier.

I didn't even realize I moved until I was standing right behind the sergeant, with the soldier looking at me pleadingly. Given the desperate look on his face and the anxious looks on his comrades' faces, since they obviously were powerless to what was happening, I realized that the sergeant had been choking him for the full time.

Then I got mad.

Now, I'm usually a cool, calm, and collected guy—or that's what I think of myself. But some things always get me hot under the collar. 

One of them being abhorrent and arrogant leaders.

I had lots of experiences with these, and if they had been even a bit more caring, all the bloodshed in my quests would've been prevented. So I had a bone to pick with this community.

In a calm voice that was nowhere close to what I was feeling inside, I said, "Let him go."

The sergeant faltered for a second, letting the innate feeling of paranoia of a person behind his back take over, lightening his grip on the soldier for a second. But when the gasps of the soldier reached his ears, he clamped a hand over his trachea once again and spun towards me. "What is your problem, soldier?" the sergeant asked gruffly, having enough brain to realize that aggravating more soldiers would probably lead to his downfall. But what he didn't know was that I was already aggravated. "Can't you see that I'm teaching my soldier a lesson—which I'm allowed to do?" He gestured towards the soldier, who was now unconscious.

"All I see is you cementing your place in the Fields of Punishment," I said, furious.

The sergeant backpedaled a few steps from me, and completely let go of the soldier's neck allowing for his now-unconscious body to pull in gasps of air and return his purple complexion to a regular one. His comrades scrambled to drag him a few feet away from the sergeant before making sure he was alright so the sergeant couldn't reach him.

"How dare you!" the sergeant bellowed at me, now angry toward me. "I'm going to Lord Chaos after I die."

"Lord Chaos" was basically the Void for the Chaos soldiers, which was basically Elysium. Now, he was really mad at me because I had basically told him that he was going to hell.

"I would think twice about that," I said, ticking off reasons on my fingers. "Firstly, I see you cruelly using your command to beat up the people under you, which—from experience—I know Chaos hates. Secondly, even if Chaos didn't care, I can convince him to send you to the Fields of Punishment—and convince him I will. Also, Lord Hades owes me a favor, but I have a feeling he'd gladly allow it, and Thanatos also owes me a favor. So I wouldn't take your chances to go to Elysium that high."

"Who are you?" the sergeant said, a bit scared at my argument—though I had a feeling it was because I had called "Lord Chaos" without his title and I didn't get struck down. Similarly, the full room was now looking at me with wonder—except for Psi, who was trying to eat as much as he could.

"Someone you wouldn't want to anger." I cracked my knuckles, doing my best to be imposing. "And you have angered me."

That's when I made my mistake.

You see, I had forgotten a big part of why cruel leaders were so callous: paranoia. Whenever someone threatened their power, they tried to take them out in any way they could, even if the threat had way more power than them.

So I didn't see the punch until it was too late.

I couldn't help the gasp of pain as his fist collided with my bruised ribcage, making me stumble back to gain some distance. "Oh, you're going to get it," I growled as he drew his sword. I didn't uncap Riptide, because I was so angry that I was determined to beat him with the disadvantage and embarrass him in front of his leaders, who were all watching the commotion taking place attentively and were probably deciding whether or not to step in.

Unfortunately, because of my retreat, the sergeant got the idea that I was weak. "We'll see about that," he said confidently and then charged toward me.

It was a reckless charge, one that had a million faults. It was apparent he was trying to shish-kebob my liver instead of using it tactually.

So I tripped him.

It wasn't that hard; I sidestepped out of the way, and he didn't have enough time to turn, like a bull at the rodeo. Then, as he passed me, I stuck my foot out. He didn't even have the chance to evade it.

The sergeant fell on the marble floor of the mess hall with a crack, making everyone wince. It was obvious that he had broken his nose in the fall, stubbornly not allowing his arms to save him.

I pressed his head down further with the sole of my shoe until I heard a satisfying yelp. "Are you going to behave now?"

He hesitated until I pressed down even further, making him yelp in pain once again, and nodded his head quickly—or as quickly as he could without damaging his nose any further.

"Alright." I took my foot off his head and began walking towards my table, where my plate of waffles was still waiting for me to eat, as well as a still-eating Psi.

I was only halfway to my table before I heard a roar from the sergeant as though he was a lion and clomping footsteps. Still, I kept on walking, acting as though he wasn't there.

Then, at the right time, I spun around, grabbed the fist he was about to punch me with, and flipped him over my shoulder before knocking him unconscious with a sharp kick to the head. I grunted in pain as my ribs felt as though they were on fire, but they calmed down as quickly. "A note for the next time you try to kill someone," I told his unconscious body dryly. "Don't sound like a wounded bear when you try to sneak up on someone. Though I doubt someone of your intellect could understand this simple trick."

I walked over to Psi, ignoring the hundreds of shocked eyes trained on me. "You done yet?" I asked him.

"I was waiting for you." He grabbed my plate, as well as his empty one, and chucked them into the trash can, which was a few yards away from us.

His plate perfectly flew in. But as mine passed me, I quickly grabbed it. "I'm not done eating," I told him.

"Suit yourself. But we're not going to stay here."

We walked out of the mess bickering like normal, as though I didn't just beat up a sergeant and Psi didn't almost throw away my waffles.