The next morning, I woke up seemingly late, since the sun was shining full force into my room. I quickly got dressed, happy that I wasn't sore. That would be the last thing I needed; knowing my luck, I'm probably going to have to fight the soldiers off.
The feeling of trepidation in my stomach did nothing to head these emotions.
I hurried over where I knew Chaos would be, noticing that there were no guards in sight. I frowned: My room was nowhere near the center of the palace, and the plan had detailed that there would be at least one guard guarding the hallway.
I sped up, entering the Situation Room—only to freeze in my tracks when I saw the dozens of commanders circling Chaos, giving him information. I saw Omega ten feet to their right, alone, and looking at a map of the palace.
When I reached him, he said, "Good morning, sleepyhead."
I rolled my eyes; even Omega— the most powerful and most serious commander—had started teasing me. "How many shifts did I sleep through?"
"The second will be ending in a few hours. Although fighting with Rosaline does that to you."
"Did you change the plan?" I asked since Omega was supposed to be outside for the full day.
"A little." He gestured towards the map. "I'm staying here for a bit, but going back when the third shift goes."
I perused it carefully. It was a detailed map, labeling all the guard routes. I observed most of the soldiers on the perimeter, just like I had been told, but the other soldiers that needed were supposed to guard the corridors were now obliged to . . .
"They're guarding the treasury?" I asked. "Wouldn't just putting them in the hallways suffice? They'll guard more things than just one room."
"Yes and no. We've got intel that Void's interested in the treasury for some reason." When I opened my mouth to respond, he quickly added, "The source is classified."
"Alright," I said with resignation. "Anywhere I can help?"
"Since you're so worried about the passageways, why not guard those?" Omega said. "I'm pretty sure we won't need any other soldiers patrolling the corridors if you're there."
I wanted to argue, but some sense told me not to. I sighed. "Why not?"
~~~
Patrolling empty hallways gets mind-numbing.
It felt as though I was wasting my time because no one passed through the hallways unless you counted the onslaught of soldiers switching shifts as foot traffic.
One hour into the third shift, I finally gave up and sat in an alcove the branched off of Funnel Way, the castle's most-traveled passageway. It was the shortest path to almost every room since it was in the center and hundreds of halls connected to it. I figured I would be able to hear anybody on almost every path.
But after an hour of still silence, I began to think that Chris had fed me faulty information. But that thought led to another which was even worse: What if Void's attack wasn't on the palace itself, but the planet?
As more and more minutes passed by, I eventually convinced myself that I had been wrong. I prepared to head to Chaos but then was interrupted by something.
Or rather, someone. A person quickly walked through the hallway, passing me without noticing I was there. He looked around nervously, as though he didn't want to be caught. The only reason I didn't go question him was that he was wearing a Chaos soldier uniform.
I had a sense that something was off, and sat down right back onto my chair.
Sure enough, the man came back through the hallway empty-handed, then returned with a box. He still didn't see me, making me wonder if I was invisible.
This cycle happened ten more times, all with me just watching calmly. Finally, on the eleventh time, he noticed me. Everything happened all at once: His eyes widened in horror, probably wondering how long I had been there. He dropped the box and ran.
Upon hitting the floor, the long box flipped, emptying its contents. Dozens of swords clattered on the floor.
Swords! In a moment, I was on my feet, chasing after the man who was obviously the mole. I now knew what Void had planned, but didn't know where.
The man had long since changed corridors, ducking out of sight. Fortunately, I could still hear his pounding footsteps as he ran and I took up the chase.
A few minutes later, I was close enough behind him that I could hear his harsh breathing. I dove forward, my arms connecting with his body. He fell to the ground painfully, cushioning my landing.
While he was groaning in pain, I calmly got up and flipped him over to face me. I put my foot on his neck, making a big show of slowly killing him. His eyes widened in horror.
"Please!" he pleaded. "I'll do anything! Have mercy!"
"Which armory?" I growled out.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" he exclaimed, clearly lying.
I added pressure to his neck, and he cracked like an egg.
"The main one," he said softly in resignation.
My form of thanks was kicking him in the head, knocking him unconscious. Then I bound and gagged him using strips of fabric from his shirt.
I turned around, heading towards the biggest armory in the palace of Chaos. I ran like I never ran before, covering dozens of feet in seconds.
I passed Rosaline in the hallway. "Why are you running like a madman?" she shouted.
"No time to explain!" I yelled back. "Matter of life or death! Void's mole is tied up in the hallway a little ways back, get to the main armory as fast as you can with backup!"
Rosaline stared at my quickly-disappearing form curiously. Then, she snapped out of her stupor and ran the opposite way, towards the mole.
Meanwhile, I was praying to any immortal I could think of that I was correct. Omega was too good at his job; not even one person could slip through his net without being questioned strictly.
But anybody with a Chaos uniform could.
There were too many soldiers to know them all personally—which I was beginning to think was an absolute flaw.
I spun around a corner and burst through a pair of doors, finding myself in the biggest armory I had ever been in. It had every single weapon imaginable, from curved swords to maces to even little spiked balls that one was supposed to throw.
But all the weapons looked . . . different.
Instead of the standard metal sheen, all the weapons had golden flecks in the metal.
Exactly how the rigged swords in Void's castle looked.
All five Generals were inside of the empty armory, three quickly organizing the most recent boxes they had brought in to make it seem as though the weapons had been there for months, and not just brought in. They all were wearing Chaos uniforms, just as I suspected. Eon was overseeing the full operation like a manager, with her arms crossed. But Chris . . .
He was on the far side of the room, offering a sword to the only Chaos soldier in the armory who needed a new weapon.
Chris was holding the blade delicately in his hand, pointing the hilt towards the soldier. Normally, this would be how to properly hand a sword to someone, but I knew better.
Touching the hilt was deadly.
I now fully understood the plan. It wasn't about killing as many soldiers as possible in a way that wouldn't make Void seem suspicious.
It was about paranoia.
If healthy soldiers dropped dead for no apparent reason, many warriors would be scared for their lives, not knowing how to combat the invisible threat. They would be disorganized, and their morale would be lowered. Some people would probably even quit.
Then, after a few weeks, Void would probably attack and have an easy victory.
But there was no time to worry about this. The soldier was extending his hand to accept the sword.
Before I knew what I was doing, I had uncapped Riptide and hurled it across the room like it was a spear.
It sailed to its target silently and imbedded itself into . . . Chris' arm.
Chris yelped, dropping the sword and clasping his hand over his wound. All the Generals spun around, their eyes landing on me.
"Jackson!" Eon snarled.
"That's me," I agreed, smirking.
The three Generals that I didn't know charged at me with swords. Fortunately, the Chaos soldier had run away, letting me focus on my self-preservation since Riptide was still stuck inside Chris' arm.
I slid over a table, hitting a General in the chest with both feet and the force of my entire body. He stumbled back and hit a chair, letting go of his sword. I quickly grabbed him and spun around using him as a human shield as the other two Generals stabbed at me.
To their and his abject horror, they stabbed the General I was holding. He groaned in pain and turned into silver dust, indicating to me that he was an immortal.
The other two Generals were still staring at the pile of dust and were trying to wrap their minds around what they had done, even though it wasn't that big of a deal. I easily knocked them unconscious and turned toward the other two Generals.
"You're too late," Eon said smugly.
"For some reason, I don't believe you," I replied.
Eon's self-control snapped. She pushed her hands toward me, and I was blown back by an invisible force that I had no chance of stopping. I slammed into the wall painfully, my head snapping back.
But since I was in an armory, that's not all that happened. Multiple weapons punctured through my skin, and as I gave a grunt of pain, I knew that there was no surviving it. A spear had pierced through my heart, and my vision began dimming, while my breath slowed.
Furthermore, to my horror, the armory doors opened and dozens of soldiers flooded in. Eon gave me a triumphant smile.
Nonetheless, not all was lost. If I can't save myself, I should at least save these people.
Despite my body being in utter agony, I slowly raised my hand, closed my eyes, and imagined all the weapons disappearing. Many people gasped in surprise, indicating it was working.
However, I had never practiced this power, and the tugging in my gut got so strong that I felt as though I was going to split into two.
A silent tear left my eye and traced itself down my face. That was all the weakness I showed. That one tear held all my pain, effort, and agony inside it.
Finally, with one more grunt, all the weapons in the armory disappeared, dumping me onto the ground. All my strength had disappeared, but I still found enough to open my eyes and wink at Eon, who had her mouth open in shock and awe. Maybe not all is lost after all.
The doors burst open a final time as my head lolled back, allowing me a glimpse of Rosaline and Chaos with an armada of armed soldiers. I smiled, knowing I didn't have to do anything more . . .
Then darkness overtook me.
A/N-Just a heads up—the next story is a percyxnyx one, focusing on a more broken Percy. Hope you're enjoying this one, and feel free to leave comments and feedback. Thanks for all the support.