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

Chapter 74

Honestly, I hadn't known why I thought plummeting from a city wall to catch Void's orb was a good idea.

I still don't.

First of all, catching an object out of the air while falling was hard: you're falling at about the same speed as it, and it's not like you're in a comfortable position where you can see it. Meanwhile, if you miss it the first time, you'd probably knock it out of your reach.

Like I did.

Second of all, Aurelia's city walls weren't that high off the ground; they were meant more for show than anything else. So, within a dozen seconds, I was already almost a few moments from the ground.

As I fell, I looked helplessly at Void's orb, which was tantalizingly close—but not close enough. If only I had something else to help me . . .

And at that moment, I was thankful that I was falling from a city wall.

I looked down. Only a second left before I would splatter onto the ground—or get shish-kebabbed by some swords. I only had one chance before I died.

I had fallen so that my feet were facing the wall. It was by pure and utter accident that this was the exact position I needed. 

I quickly bent my legs and extended them with all my might—hitting the wall. I got pushed off, and I suddenly found myself flying sideways through the air—right into Void's orb.

I quickly grabbed it before it could bounce off my chest. I sighed in relief; I had finally gotten it back.

And then I realized I was going to die.

That was the problem with my jump.

Even if I got the orb, how would I get back up there? 

I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

But a moment later, the orb disappeared from my hands—and before I could react, a pair of arms encircled me. 

I gasped in shock and stumbled back—and realized that I could stumble back.

I was back on solid ground. Or more specifically, back onto the city wall. I was in a different spot than before. Rather than being closer to the inner wall, I was now above the outer portion of the wall.

Nothing really had changed—except one shocking thing.

My eyes widened. A lithe figure was standing in front of me.

She turned to face me. My breath caught. The same silver eyes I had fallen in love with. The same eyes I'd seen close with death . . .

Now were open, and staring at me with an intensity that took my breath away.

"Void," I said quietly, looking at her in disbelief. 

When Omega had said the orb was Void's, I'd imagined it was the source of her power—not her specifically.

Void smiled gently, and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Jessica's yelp of surprise.

"Holy—!" she exclaimed. "Where did you come from?"

She'd spun around, and looked at Void with as much disbelief as I had.

The Generals, Chaos, and Psi spun around. Upon seeing Void, Chaos' eyes widened as the Generals immediately kneeled. Meanwhile, Psi just groaned.

He tugged on Chaos' sleeve like a little boy. "Can you kill her already?" he whined. "I'm sick of being in Aurelia."

Void looked away from me to face him, her nostrils flaring in anger. "You dare speak of me in that tone, you pitiful boy?" She snapped her fingers. 

In a flash, all of the Chaos soldiers surrounding us disappeared. It only took a glance down to notice that all in the city had as well.

Jessica ran to the wall and looked to the city road. When she saw what I did, she spun to face Void. "A-are they dead?" she asked, fear creeping in her tone.

Void smiled at her—but it was bracingly cold. "Consider them as such."

Psi pushed Chaos forward as Jessica walked backward until she bumped into a merlon. 

"Er . . ." Chaos fidgeted nervously, unable to meet Void's gaze. "Hello, Sister."

"Greetings," Void replied. "Are you going to get out of my city or not?"

"Well . . . No." In a flash, Chaos pulled out a Chaos metal sword and lunged at Void.

Void simply stepped out of the way and sighed in disappointment. "If we must." She snapped a finger and was immediately covered with golden armor. Her celestial bronze sword glinted.

Wait a minute, I thought as I watched Void give me a sly wink then parry Chaos' second attack. I slowly dug my hand in my pocket. 

There was nothing. 

I looked at Void's sword again. The hilt was engraved with Greek writing. My eyes widened.

She was using Riptide.

I wasn't angry at her stealing my sword—I was more flattered. But that flattery soon gave to worry as I realized Psi was charging at me with his sword, which was in his hand.

You've got to be joking, I thought as I dodged Psi's first attack, then feinted a kick. I'd been in battles before, but not without a weapon.

I looked helplessly at the Void Generals, backing away from another strike. They all were attacking Jessica. With it being five people to one, I'd thought the battle would be over in a few seconds, but Jessica seemed to be holding her own.

I caught a glimpse of Void as I dove to the ground, Psi's blade scratching into a merlon above me. She was in a swordfight with Chaos, one so fast that their blades were blurs. Void's fighting style was graceful and fluid, almost hypnotic . . .

I heard Psi's blade whoosh towards my face. I quickly ducked, then tried to grab his blade as he overextended—but he pulled back too quick.

"Why aren't you talking?" Psi taunted as he forced me back with a swing again. "Too afraid of me?"

"No," I replied. "It's worth more to save my breath than to talk to a loser like you."

I watched in satisfaction as my statement made Psi turn red in anger. He roared—then charged recklessly, abandoning all strategies.

I quickly spun away, and kicked him in the solar plexus. Once again, I tried to disarm him, but he pulled away.

"Just. Die!" Psi roared, and charged at me again.

Psi wasn't the best swordsman in any aspect. And he was angry. So even though I didn't have any weapon, I still had a decent chance of winning. 

This time, I merely stood there as Psi approached. A moment before he was about to stab me, I pushed away his sword with one hand and punched him in the stomach. Hard.

Psi dropped his sword in surprise, but couldn't stop himself from crashing into me. We tumbled onto he ground in a heap. He struggled, but with the air knocked out of his lungs he could only weakly resist as I pinned him down and raised my fist to pummel him . . .

A figure suddenly appeared beside me. She grabbed me by my shirt and threw me off of Psi. I crashed into the wall.

Psi slowly got up and smiled at the figure. "Rosaline. You've finally appeared, eh? Help me beat up this idiot." he pointed at me.

I gulped. I could handle Psi. But not Rosaline.

And certainly not together.