The Remembrance of Chaos (PJO)

Chapter 7

The force of the explosives threw Percy at the wall. When he hit the wall, it knocked the wind out of him, making it hard to breathe for a bit. He wondered how he was not injured: the speed of impact was enough to cave in a grown man's skull, yet, here he was, without any injuries.

The fire razed on, and came closer to Percy. He watched it with fear.

Don't come closer, he prayed. Please?

Unfortunately, the fire did not listen. Instead, it kept on spreading, using the carpets on the floor as fuel. They might be comfortable, but they were dangerous. He could not run out of the room for two reasons:

Since there was a huge fire, naturally there was smoke. Lots of it. It had taken over the whole area, making Percy able to only see the glow of the fire. Strangely, he could breathe just fine. He did not know where to run, and he did not want to run into the fire.

The second reason was because of Artemis, actually. Since she blew up the explosives, there ought to be gigantic holes all throughout the floor and walls. Percy did not want to accidentally fall into one of the holes and injure himself. Artemis had proved to him that he was immortal, but he could be he could still feel pain.

While knowing these two facts, Percy still tried to escape, but the searing heat of the red-hot flame held him back. The only reason he tried was because he was immortal, but that apparently did not give him any bit of extra protection against fire.

Once all the carpets got burned up, the fire cleared. Fortunately, the smoke also started slowly dispersing, drawing Percy's eye to the gaping hole in the wall, allowing him to see the sprawling metropolis below.

Since it was at least a half mile below, the people were tiny splotches and the lanterns were bright dots. He could still see the buildings, though; they were huge. 

Percy was brought out of his thoughts when a hand grabbed his forearm.He jumped in surprise, but before he could do anything, another hand grabbed the mystery person's hand and threw them over his shoulder. With further inspection, he figured out it was his hand.

Nice, Percy thought appreciatively. He was suddenly struck with a thought. Was that Artemis?

Percy turned and moved toward the area he had thrown the person. The smoke had cleared enough that he could see a silhouette climbing up to its feet. It was the same shape and size as Artemis.

Sure enough, when the silhouette came close enough, he could indeed see it was Artemis. She was covered in ash and soot, something that Percy knew was from the fire. He guessed he looked about the same, also. Unfortunately, the explosion had not ruined her mood. In face, it seemed like it had made it better. Her smile was wider and eyes were brighter.

"See?" Artemis said. "You're not dead!" 

"I noticed," Percy grumbled. "You didn't need to do that."

"Whatever you say," Artemis dismissed his late concerns. "Besides, we have our escape!" She pointed at the gaping hole in the wall.

Percy's eyes widened. "The city is very far down! We'll break every single bone in our body!"

"We don't have a choice! The even the guards at the other end of the city probably heard the explosion—it was as loud as an army!" 

Percy narrowed his eyes at her. Artemis did not seem to be reluctant to go down; instead, she was giddy.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

She smiled a very big smile at him. "Of course!"

Percy considered pushing her through the hole. 

She's my teammate, Percy tried to calm himself down. No matter how crazy she is, I can't cause her pain. Unfortunately.

"Come on!" Artemis impatiently tugged on his sleeve. A normal girl would tug on a parent's sleeve when walking to a playground. Apparently, Artemis had outgrown playgrounds for her two-year-old brain. Instead, she blew up buildings.

Percy sighed. "I guess there's no going back, is there?"

"Of course not!"

"Fine!" Percy gulped nervously, trying to steady his nerves. They edged out onto the broken wall and looked down. Percy was not scared of heights, but—like anyone who knew they were going to climb down something without safety equipment—his stomach was queasy. 

"We can climb down!" Artemis exclaimed, pointing to the wall. There were tiny, rectangular slit every foot or so. In castle defense, they were used for shooting crossbows through the wall while still being protected. 

They would use it for something else; hand and footholds. They were thin, but still barely wide enough for a foot. Plus, since they were made purposely, they would be steady and not break.

Hopefully. 

Artemis went first, climbing down as easily as if she was climbing down a tree. Percy reluctantly went next, cautiously testing the holds before he put his full weight on it. Since it was a tall castle, the climb was a bit long. It was even longer for Percy, with every second feeling like a minute.

Every moment, Percy got another, better reason to go back into the castle. Unfortunately, End had enough time to check on them, meaning going back was not an option. Still, his stubborn mind wanted to stop. Fortunately, his body did not want to listen. Climbing down was a lesser danger of the two things.

The minutes ticked by; every second felt like agony, since his finger had long gone numb. Every time he put a foot in a new slit, he was just waited for someone to push it out and make him fall.

Fortunately, that did not happen. They eventually reached the bottom. Percy could not feel his fingers. 

They're not purple, He observed. At least that's good.

"That was a good exercise," Artemis said cheerfully.

"Were you not paranoid?"

"Of what? I think you just worry too much."

Percy huffed. "Of falling or someone pushing your foot off."

"Nope! I prefer to live in the moment."

Living in the moment, sure. But what about the future? Before Percy could argue, he heard a bang that sounded like a metallic object hitting stone. They both turned around.

Sure enough, a few hundred yards away from them, a gate had opened violently, and out came hundreds of soldiers.

The chase was on.