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

Chapter 78(End)

I spun around to face the person, internally panicking. Had I gone into the wrong office by mistake? That was possible, since I'd never been in this section of the palace before . . .

But all my worries disappeared when I saw their face. Or, more specifically, her face. Her small frown etched on her face made her seem adorable. That quickly changed to confusion as I met her gaze, then recognition.

"Ah, Perseus," she said, her voice taking on a gentler tone. "What are you doing here?"

I felt this would be an awkward conversation, but I didn't know it would be from the start. Upon seeing her beautiful face, I was immediately tongue-tied, wanting to rush into her arms—but a small part of my brain reminded me that she was one of the most powerful deities in the universe.

"Um . . . er . . ." I stammered out, then just gave up and lifted the letter clutched in my hand into the light.

A look of understanding flashed over her face. "Eon asked you to come and meet me?"

I shook my head.

"Rosaline?" she guessed, and when I nodded my head she smiled. "She's only defected from Chaos' side a few days ago and she's already taken half of Eon's work." Then the primordial focused on my clothes. "Why are you wearing those?"

I looked at myself, but couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary. "These are my regular clothes. What's wrong with them?"

"It looks like you haven't changed since the battle," Void said plainly.

Suddenly, everything that I worse seemed wrong. Every particle of dirt on my shoes seemed to be five hundred times as big. My hair seemed unruly, my skin seemed oily, and my clothes seemed to be made out of sweat. I felt dirty—and I probably looked like it too.

I blushed, suddenly finding the specks of dirt I'd led into the office very interesting. "Sorry. When Rosaline said 'immediately,' I thought it meant 'immediately.' That's my fault . . ." I was too embarrassed to say more."

Void smiled empathetically. "There's nothing wrong with that. I was just surprised to see the state you were in."

I probably looked like a tomato now. "Sorry," I muttered.

"What? Wait—I didn't mean it as an insult," Void said quickly, losing her formal tone. "You just looked different than normal. But you still look as good as you always do."

I was about to apologize once more, but then I heard Void's last sentence. My heart briefly stopped as I processed it. Does she . . . like me as much as Artemis?

I glanced up and met her silver eyes. They were filled with only honesty. I blushed, then quickly looked down again.

We just stood there for a few seconds, me flustered so much that I couldn't function properly, and Void probably wondering why I was acting so weird.

Eventually, after what seemed like an hour, Void cleared her throat. She patted the desk. "Why don't you sit down?"

I started forward, only to realize that all the chairs were covered in velvet. A velvet that looked way too expensive to be used on chairs.

"What happened?" Void asked in concern as she took a seat, but realized that I was just standing next to a chair awkwardly.

"Er . . . I don't want to make this dirty." I waved to the velvet.

Void laughed. It was a lilting sound that made my insides bunch up together. "Is that so? I thought you didn't like it. Sit down."

"Are you sure? I can stay standing . . ."

"Sit." There was an ordering tone in her voice.

I quickly sat. 

Void's voice quickly melted into a softer one. "Good. I expect that you have some questions."

The sentence was structured into a statement because I did have questions. Quite a lot, actually. "Are you sure that Rosaline did save you?" Hearing how accusatory it came out, I quickly tried to correct myself. "Not that I'm insinuating that she didn't . . . but you're a primordial, right? So you can't die."

"Even if we primordials can't die, we still have human qualities," Void started. "Say, that I broke my skull. I would still feel the pain. I can't die from it, but it'll still feel like I want to die until, of course, I heal myself."

"So Rosaline saved you from . . . pain?" I said, not quite understanding.

"No. What would happen if you broke an arm?"

"I wouldn't be able to use it. And it'd hurt a lot . . ."

"Exactly. I crashed through the merlon, which hurt a lot, but if I plummeted to the ground, I would've broken my spine. I would have laid there for a few minutes while I gathered my strength to heal myself."

It sounded like a flaw in the power of primordials, but I didn't question it, because it seemed as though Void knew what she was talking about—through experience.

"Which would allow Chaos to finish you off," I said, finally understanding. "But how did Rosaline save you from this? Did she teleport you out when you were still in the air? She seemed very in the moment when I was trying to run past her."

"Teleporting would've been too noticeable. It would've hurt less, but Chaos would've realized I'd been injured. Rosaline just healed me."

Another question darted into my mind. "Why did Chaos surrender, then? You didn't attack him when he was injured, did you?"

Void looked at me in surprise, as though she hadn't expected me to ask the second question. "Of course not. I suppose someone else could've struck Chaos, but it's unlikely. What's more feasible  is that Chaos knew he would be conquered, so he fled."

A frightful thought entered my mind. "Chaos could still be in the city, then. Nobody was paying attention to what happened to him. He could be anywhere by now. Even in the castle."

Overcome with paranoia, I leaped out of my chair and hurried to the doors.

In a blink of an eye, though, Void was in front of me, with her hands outstretched like a soccer goalie. 

"What are you doing?!" I exclaimed as I tried to walk past her, but she just moved into my way again. 

"Chaos isn't out there," she said calmly. "I felt a power spike when he teleported off the planet."

"What's your evidence?" I challenged. "'Cause he could've teleported anywhere on this planet too. I know Chaos. He takes grudges—and revenge seriously."

I had to admit, she did have very compelling evidence to shut me up.

Because she leaned forward and gave me a kiss.