The Spirits of the Universe (PJO)

Chapter 15--We Go Exploring

A/N--Sorry for the short chapter, I have some things going on right now in life, and I felt that it was better to update rather than not update at all :)

~~~

Despite Liam's warning, the most logical thing we could've done was run away—after all, what's one more enemy in the grand scheme of things?

Naturally, I wasn't exactly a stout believer in logic. So, after a bit of convincing, I found myself following Liam and Aridne deeper into the building—not before checking that I had the death order for Baley secured in my pocket.

Trying to piece together where Denham had fled wasn't that hard; we just had to follow the carnage—open doors, knocked-over weapons, and, of course, the occasional alert guard patrol.

"He won't escape," Liam assured us, his eyes darkening as we rounded corners, only to find them empty. "I dislocated his kneecap—he won't be kicking anytime soon."

"You're very thorough," Aridne noted. "Almost as if you planned all of this."

Liam spun around, forcing us to stop. "Just what do you mean by that?"

"Guys . . ." I said. 

Aridne held up her hands in mock surrender. "I'm not trying to say anything. I just stated what the evidence is leading me to believe."

"There is no evidence," Liam snapped as he kicked open a door. The block of wood slammed into the skull of the Chaos soldier who was guarding the other side so hard that he was sent stumbling into the wall. He faceplanted to the floor as we strode past him, unconcerned. "I have done nothing to earn your suspicion, and yet you do nothing except that."

Hello? A little help here? I asked End and Order. Is there ANY chance you guys can be useful for once?

Me? End asked, taken aback. I'm enjoying this! Have you ever seen me resolve an argument the easy way?

Well, no. But considering that we're in Chaos' territory, we should probably work together. If I die, you die. 

Stopping this argument will not help in the long term, End said stubbornly. You need to get to the root of it—why do they absolutely abhor each other?

Any tips or hints would be nice.

You can only trust the information you find out yourself, Order advised. It would be best if you solved this on your own. 

Good luck, End added. Knowing you, you'll probably need it.

"I am logic-driven," Aridne said innocently as if Liam and I both didn't know what was up. "I may not have cold, hard evidence—but it's evidence nonetheless. There's no solid evidence that Percy's handsome—it's not written down anywhere—but I can still say that and believe it." She glanced at me with a knowing smile.

Things are finally starting to get interesting, End mused as I blushed all the way down to my toes.

In my defense, lots of people had called me handsome before—mainly my mother—and I could always shrug the compliment off. But the words hit differently when a drop-dead gorgeous girl said it right to my face with no hesitation. Especially when the said girl could stop his heart with a smile.

"Liam wouldn't betray us like that," I assured Aridne, choosing to ignore her most recent sentence. I absentmindedly rubbed the left side of my chest, trying to stop the possibility of an ensuing heart attack.

"Let's say that's true. But maybe . . . his definition of helping might actually harm you."

"Why would I want to lead us toward the Wolf?" Liam countered, continuing on his path. We had to hurry to catch up to him. But as the seconds passed, I started noticing a weird shaking around me—as if the building was moments from collapsing. "That would be a suicide mission."

"You're doing that right now," Aridne pointed out.

"Can someone fill me in?" I asked exasperatedly, cutting straight into the argument. "Look, we've all had our fair share of fighting. If we make a plan to deal with the Wolf, he'll probably go down like the Titanic."

"The what now?" Liam asked, taken aback. "You've fought a Titan named Nick?"

"I don't think I've heard that name before," Aridne said thoughtfully. The shaking was getting stronger now, and a thump thump thump reverberated through my bones.

"It's not . . . forget about it," I sighed, remembering that I wasn't on Earth anymore. 

Liam looked at me curiously, as if he wanted me to explain my previous point, but then answered my question. "The Wolf is powerful—but not too powerful for us. The problem is that he's the general of the forces stationed here—and he just came back."

"Meaning . . ."

" . . . Everybody's going to be celebrating." Liam gave us a grave look and then led us into a hallway overlooking the central courtyard. The thumping had overshadowed the sound of my heartbeat now.

The central courtyard was a place that I would look over in dismissal—Chaos' castle had two. Both were too empty and far too filled with plants for me to have any positive memories of them. 

But the courtyard here . . . it was full of people. Suddenly, I realized why the building was shaking.

"Anyone fancy some food?" Liam joked, his voice drowning out the speakers.