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

Chapter 53

When Rosaline teleported us in front of the castle, I was prepared for everything except . . . "Why is the city so empty?"

Indeed, unlike the bustling city I had seen before, it now seemed like its population got significantly massacred. Only a few people saw us appear from thin air, but they scattered in fear almost instantly. Instead of the active farmers' market, I had seen, it was now occupied by just one random jogger. Most notably, the only soldiers I could see were the ones on top of the walls—and only glints of their armor when they walked from the cover of a merlon. On the north wall, I counted only a dozen of them. 

Rosaline scrutinized this carefully. "The Void army must've attacked multiple Chaos bases at once. All the people must be inside their homes, waiting for their army to come back. Come on. We've got to do what we came here for before our full army gets massacred." She scurried into the castle. Psi and I followed closely.

My first observation about the huge fortress was correct; it was similar to Chaos' castle—in fact, it was identical to Chaos' castle, save for the fact it was built out of white, glowing bricks and was the home of Void.

We easily got through the main gate. There were a few guards there, but when they tried asking us for identification, Rosaline simply punched all of them in the face, knocking them out before they could react. 

As it turned out, all of the rooms of the castle were identical to Chaos'—but the locations weren't. For the better part of an hour, we explored the palace, trying to get a feel of it. In that time, we passed armories full of Void gold weapons, mess halls, bed chambers, chapels, guardrooms, and a whole lot of others.

"Where'd you think Void would be resurrecting?" I asked Rosaline.

"I have no idea," she admitted. "I don't even know if Void's even in this city."

Psi cut in. "Do you feel that?" I now noticed he had fallen behind us by a few steps.

Rosaline and I stopped and looked at him. "Feel what?" she asked.

"There's some sort of power . . . it's pushing me back. I don't feel so good." He suddenly lashed out with an arm and grabbed a doorframe, using it to steady himself. Given his breathing and panicked tone, I wanted to believe him, but I didn't know if it was genuine. I looked at Rosaline.

"He's telling the truth," Rosaline confirmed. "I can feel it too." I now realized that she looked pale, as though she wasn't getting enough oxygen to her brain.

I rushed to her side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm a bit uncomfortable but that's it—probably because I'm primordial. We should be worrying about Psi." She pointed to him. He was now splayed on the ground, with a tiny pool of vomit next to his head.

I cursed and ran towards him, lifting his hand to feel for a pulse. I sighed in relief when I felt one—though it was weak. Even though I hated him, he was still an ally in a hostile environment.

"We need to get out of here," I said, lifting Psi up with a grunt. Even though he was built like a twig—tall and thin—he was pretty heavy. "It's probably Void's power that's affecting us."

Rosaline took Psi's limp body from me and flung it over her shoulder. "I'm beginning to feel it too. We don't have that much time remaining . . ." She trailed off, thinking of something. "Wait. Are you not being affected?"

Hearing this, I paused. I did a brief check of all my body parts, and everything I was feeling with my senses; everything was normal. "I'm completely fine. Maybe I'm just a late bloomer? I got my first piece of facial hair two years after—"