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

Chapter 42

Just like last time, we rushed toward the portal, which was still open.

But the second before Psi, Charlotte, Aeschylus, and I stepped through it, the portal disappeared.

I knew that there was a decent chance that it wasn't my bad luck, but Eon teasing us.

This is not what I was hoping for, Aeschylus grumbled, pacing back and forth to conserve his warmth, while also getting the added bonus of freaking out Psi.

In Aeschylus' defense, it was cold. I could see the water vapor in my breath condense into a seeable form as I steadily became colder and colder until I too was shivering. Unlike Charlotte and Aeschylus, who had thick coats of fur, I had two thin layers of skin and a long-sleeved shirt that the buffeting winds easily sliced through like an icy, sharp blade.

However, I seemed to be faring better than Psi. Given that he was shivering under a cloak set with a hood that was way thicker than my clothes, my tolerance of cold had also been increased by being a son of Poseidon. But I immediately realized one thing: "We've got to get out of here."

"How do you think we should get out of here?" Psi asked sarcastically. "Maybe magic up a portal and walk straight into Deeplige again?"

Apparently, the cold also made Psi more irritable than normal.

I looked at Charlotte hopefully. "By any chance do you think you can 'magic up a portal,' but somewhere else that isn't preferably Deeplige?"

What're you looking at me for? Charlotte asked. My mistress is currently trying to reform herself as fast as she possibly can. Every ounce of power is being sent to her.

I then looked at Aeschylus. "What about you?"

I am sorry milord, he said, dipping his head down regretfully, But I am not allowed to alter your fate right now.

"Is it because of Chaos?" When he didn't reply, which basically was an answer in itself, I said, "I'm going to slap Chaos silly when I'm done with his ridiculous quest."

Some things even Lord Chaos can't interfere with, Aeschylus told me. Sometimes the easiest choice isn't the best choice . . .

Which basically means he's powerless at this moment too, Charlotte finished. If a horse could smile, even Hades himself would run away from her, fearing her sassiness would be focused on him next.

Aeschylus neighed, offended, which made Psi exclaim in alarm. I am not powerless. I can do as many things as Lord Chaos can at this moment. You're just jealous.

Prove it. When Aeschylus just stood there, doing nothing, Charlotte continued. Let's face it: both of us are powerless at this moment. Now, instead of fighting like the siblings we are, how about we focus on keeping our masters alive?

The one I'm carrying is not my master, Aeschylus argued. He's too stupid to even realize I'm a horse.

I hid a smile at this comment. Not that Psi, would notice, since he was too busy trying to warm himself up.

But he's a Chaos soldier, Charlotte pointed out. Which means he's representing Lord Chaos at this moment, along with all of his stupidity.

Aeschylus pondered this for a moment. Lord Chaos can be stupid a lot of times, he admitted. And childish. And grumpy. Especially when he's hypoglycemic, which doesn't make sense, because he's the Creator of the Universe—he can fill himself up with food anytime he wants . . ." Aeschylus went on for about another solid two minutes, indirectly insulting Chaos.

You'd never see Lady Void act like this in front of all of her students, Charlotte groused. And yet, she's considered the 'bane' and 'evil' of the universe. I don't understand what people want from such a perfect person. She quickly glanced at me, as though there was a hidden meaning in this. Then she went back to arguing with Aeschylus. 

Even through all of their disagreements, Aeschylus and Charlotte still seemed to be the model of an as-close-to-perfect-as-possible relationship between a brother and a sister with different opinions and views, Something that most humans struggled on.

Psi quickly jumped off of Aeschylus, rolling to absorb the impact of his fall. While it might seem as though this was smart, this move made snow cake all over his clothes, making him seem like a furry snowman. "I'm not staying on top of this horse while he's arguing," Psi said when he saw me looking at him.

"That's a smart move," I said diplomatically.

I also dismounted Charlotte. In my experience with horse, I found that it's way more imposing to stay on top of them—as though you might run away at any moment, or just like feeling tall. Instead of rolling like Psi did, I instead preferred to drop straight down the four-point-five feet.

My feet sunk a few feet into the snow, making me react with surprise. It didn't seem as though such a warm planet could have such cold places, but, in retrospect, this was also true of Earth.

We were on a sort of plateau which was six feet by ten feet. It seemed as though Eon had used this spot before since it was too perfect to randomly teleport to in a situation.

Psi lead me to the north edge of this flat mountaintop. From here, our sprawling view was covered by dark green.

"I swear I saw this scenery somewhere before," Psi muttered, mostly to himself. "A warm forest next to snowy mountains . . . was it on a Planet Chaos map?"

At the word "map," I suddenly remembered what kind of map I had. I quickly pulled it out, shaking off some of the snow that had gone into my pocket. I traced my hand over the different biomes, like deserts, marshlands, and grasslands, until I . . . 

"There!" I pointed toward the north side of the map, towards a tall and huge mountain range that was sort of a natural barrier protecting Deeplige.

"If we're here, and Deeplige is here . . ." Psi said, moving his finger between the distance, then suddenly groaned. "We're as far as we were from Deeplige in that village. Eon really screwed us over."

"But we can find Rosaline!" I exclaimed, trying not to sound as glum as Psi. on the map, the northeastern-most portion of the "Forbidden Forest" curled around the mountains we were on like one's hand around an object. 

"It's better if we leave her. She'll find her way to Deeplige—maybe even before we do."

"But she can make portals," I argued. "It's much faster."

"You know what's faster than searching through hundreds of miles? Walking a few hundreds of miles. Rosaline might not even be in there anymore." Psi seemed angry.

"We should still try," I said. "Maybe for a day. If we do find her, it'd make things much easier."

"Alright," Psi conceded. "You can start searching."

But there was something in his tone that didn't sit well with me. I spun around, ready for anything . . .

But it was too late. Psi suddenly pushed me off the rock we were standing on.

Then next moment, I was falling.