The Spirits of the Universe (PJO)

Chapter 79--Where's the Hay?

The second I got on that roof, my confidence plummeted. This no longer seemed like a good idea. Maybe I should stop hating on Liam.

Speaking of Liam, he stood next to me on the windowsill. We shivered in the wind, which, four stories up, was no joke. It felt like tiny, invisible hands were grabbing onto me, encouraging me to jump.

Well, that's what I needed to do. But I wasn't sure anymore.

You see, from the ground, the roof had only looked slightly angled. I'd imagined that, if I were careful, I could walk to the edge—which was five feet from us—and peer down.

I'd been horribly mistaken. 

In truth, the roof was so steeply pitched that I doubted that birds could perch here. To make matters worse, the metal glistened in the sunlight—it had rained sometime before, making the whole place slippery. That meant Liam and I couldn't check where the hay that Aridne had told us to land in was.

We would have to guess.

"Straight," I said as Liam stated, "Left."

We looked at each other, irritated. "Oh, come on!" Liam exclaimed. "Why would it be in front of us? Nothing's ever that obvious. It's too easy, and nothing ever comes easy to us."

I had to admit, he had a point. But he didn't have the whole picture. "Ananke has a bone to pick with us, remember? She knows that we'd go left, so it's only natural that the hay would be in front of us to taunt us."

There's no way you're arguing about this, End said exasperatedly as Liam took my words seriously. Just pick a direction and go! Or did you forget about the monks?

They're stuck down there, I said dismissively. There's no way—

An arm grabbed my shoulder.

I looked back through the window, only to find a monk glaring at me.

"How'd you get up here?" I had to ask.

"You don't think we have backup ladders?" was his reply. Then he leaped at me. 

I twisted out of his grasp, then took one quick step out of the way. He stumbled onto the roof, then slipped to the edge—and fell. A few seconds later, I heard a wet crunch followed by someone's screams of pain.

"I guess the hay's not straight ahead," I remarked. Then I turned towards Liam.

A different monk, armed with a hammer, had tried to take him down. Liam easily disarmed him, then kicked him down the roof. 

"Looks like I was wrong about the left," Liam said as we heard another scream of pain.

What . . . happened to not harming civilians? Order said uneasily.

It was self-defence, I replied. Besides, a few broken bones build character.

I heard the shouting of more monks on their way. "We agree then?"

"The hay can only be in one direction," Liam answered. 

We jumped to the right.

Hands grabbed at me, but it was too late. I was already sliding down. The wind ruffled my hair. By the time I brushed the strands out of my face, I was greeted by the sight of cobblestone three stories below me.

The hay that Aridne had been talking about was nowhere to be seen. 

"How's this possible?" I heard Liam exclaim from somewhere nearby.

The monks could've just missed the hay, End pointed out. Like you said, they're civilians—they're not trained to jump from extreme heights.

I'M not trained in that either, I pointed out. But there was no point in arguing. If we landed on the road, Liam and I would suffer serious injuries. I don't think I have to talk about how bad that would be, especially with Niyomina being so close by. 

I scanned my surroundings carefully: farmers gathered on the sidewalks, watching us fall with morbid fascination;  a nearby motel was in the middle of a renovation, covered in scaffolding; several children drinking out of a well . . .

A well!

I threw my hand towards it. Immediately, a massive rush of water shot out, knocking the children back. It twirled around our feet, softening our landing into something akin to skipping a step down the stairs.

"Sorry!" I called out to the doused children, who were staring at us in wonder.

From the temple's attic, the monks gazed down at us with amazement. Then they disappeared—running down the stairs as fast as possible.

I didn't want to know what would happen if they caught us. So I ran.

Liam stayed in pace with me. "That was close. We almost died! Who knew that there wasn't hay?"

"Then where did Aridne land?" I had to ask.

Liam fell silent, thinking the same thing as me. Aridne couldn't control water. If she had jumped, and she'd been wrong with the hay, then she was definitely severely injured. Then she'd be beside one of those poor monks, bleeding out onto the street. 

She's a primordial. She'll heal quickly. But for some reason, the thought of her getting hurt still made my skin crawl.

Before I could figure out why my body was acting like this, I turned the corner—and rammed right into a person.

I tried stepping out of the way, but no luck. The person tripped and fell into my arms.

"Aridne!" Liam exclaimed before I could move. "What a coincidence."

I looked down to catch a beautiful pair of glimmering eyes staring back. "You're actually here. You're not hurt," I whispered. I instinctively drew her into a hug, and slowly, my worried thoughts drifted away.

She tensed. Then a pair of slender arms wrapped around my waist as she relaxed against me. "Why would I be?"

I was too mesmerized by how her breath tickled my neck, so Liam took over. "We didn't see any hay when we came down, so we thought you'd imagined it and fell . . ."

"You think I'd risk our lives on a gamble like that?" Aridne defended herself. "I wasn't imagining things. There was hay—a cartful. All you had to do was follow me."

"We must've chosen the wrong side," Liam sighed. 

"That shouldn't have happened—not if you had paid attention. It should've been obvious that I was talking about the side we entered from. We had no time to scout the rest of the perimeter."

"That makes sense . . . but do you really need to talk to me while you're like . . . that?"

My brain finally caught up to the present, and I looked down. Aridne and I were fully wrapped around each other. She was leaning all her weight on me while tracing circles on my chest absentmindedly. 

Aridne blushed, while my face flushed a bright red. I pulled away, but she seemed as reluctant as me. How long were we like that?

So . . . apology accepted? End asked as Liam looked at me with a raised eyebrow, but I just ignored him.

Shut up, I told her.

That isn't a no! She trilled. Maybe there's some hope for you romantically.

I cleared my throat. "So . . . Aridne . . . you're saying the hay was behind us?"

"Ananke really hates us," Liam muttered.

Aridne looked at us in confusion, but then I remembered something. "The monks said they alerted the Chaos Army."

Liam cursed. "I forgot about that. There's no way we can fight them off while dealing with Niyomina. We have to retreat."

"Not necessarily." There was a gleam of mischievousness in Aridne's eyes. "Our plan . . . might be easier now."