KINGDOM COME
━━ chapter seven

━━ ADMITTEDLY, ELISA DIDN'T think about her past often. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't know what there was to think about, either—Liliana Bardales, Silas Flowers, or Durango, Colorado. It had been so long ago now that nothing could change what happened, not even Elisa's thoughts on it all could change ( and neither could her guilt and anger; those things always seemed to stick to her like glue ).

As to who she was as a person, Elisa preferred to run from the past. Unfortunately, it also seemed to stick to her like glue. And she didn't think about her past because it was this deep, dark abyss that she knew she would be quickly sucked into. It had happened before—those years she spent on the run, trying to make her way to Camp Half-Blood. Her past was all she thought about, and it nearly consumed her whole. Lost, alone, and in desperation, all she had lost when Maurelle attacked her was all she thought about—Elisa yearned for that old life back, even if it wasn't the greatest. She never knew the comfort of having a roof over her head ( even if it was with a mother who was struggling with alcohol ) until she lost it.

This dark, deep abyss that was her past followed her; it stuck to her like glue; and Elisa had the tendency to let it consume her. The unfed mind devours itself, a line from some American author Annabeth read a year or so ago ( his name was Gore Vidal, she was pretty sure ). Elisa's isolation, her fear, and her anger at it all nearly consumed her. She practically wasn't human anymore by the time Elisa accidentally boarded a train to Bar Harbor, Maine. She was more like a rabid wolf—snapping, clawing, and sinking her teeth into anything she thought might just be the answer to her prayers.

Elisa knew that tendency was her dangerous pattern. Everyone had patterns, and everyone had dangerous and bad patterns. Her pattern was anger; it was her fatal flaw.

It happened in the small town she was born in. It happened with the woman who gave birth to her. It happened with her maternal side turning their backs on Elisa and her mother. It happened with her father going A.W.O.L. It happened with the aloof stories Liliana told of Elisa's even more aloof father. Elisa was angry at it all. She was angry at the cards that she had been dealt — at the suffocating small town, at the alcoholic mother, at the Bardales' throwing Liliana ( and subsequently, Elisa ) aside, and at her father abandoning her before she was even born. The anger consumed her, and no matter how hard she tried, she could never quite get rid of the anger. It was like the devil on her shoulder, always tugging on her ear, whispering reminders of what she should still be angry about.

Dionysus had warned her last December. Even before then, she knew her wrath was a problem. It was why Brian Anders was dead, it was why Elisa still didn't understand how Bianca would join the Hunters and leave Nico behind, it was why Maverick, another son of Bia was dead, too. It was why Elisa still couldn't quite forgive Silena for being the spy.

No matter what Elisa wanted, the anger; the wrath; was still there. Almost ... boiling under her skin, like a parasite. It whispered to her, like the devil on the shoulder.

Even now, it was with her. She snapped at Percy for him not being able to magically find a way to tell her about Nico. She knew it was wrong to become angry with him, but the wrath slipped off her tongue and out into the world. Her anger may be justified, but it was wrongly misplaced. She knew that, but that didn't ease the weight of it any; if anything, it became more burdensome. Now, she was taking out this anger on people who didn't deserve it—Percy was the last person who needed anger aimed at him.

All demigods have that one flaw; that fatal flaw. The one part of them that will get them killed if caught in the wrong scenario ( and as demigods, those "wrong" scenarios are unfortunately common ). Percy's fatal flaw was loyalty—that unwavering decision to stick by someone, no matter how they are or where they are. As annoying and endearing as that trait is ( in the same breath, somehow ), that unwavering loyalty was probably the reason Elisa is still alive. When they met at fourteen, in Westover Hall, as Percy tried to play hero and save her, Bianca, and Nico from a manticore, he deemed himself tied to Elisa. He deemed himself a hero, and he deemed Elisa worthy of this loyalty. Despite the bad things that stuck to her like glue and the dark hole she nearly found herself lost in, Percy didn't give up.

She still wasn't quite sure why Percy decided to play hero and loyally bound himself to her. She didn't know if it was just to play hero, or to stick it to Dionysus and become friends with his daughter, or if it was both — or a reason completely unknown to Elisa. Part of her didn't want to know. She didn't want to know what he had thought of her at the time. She didn't like who she was when they met. She was far more angry then; the anger nearly consumed her, and it probably would have if Percy hadn't been there.

It wasn't fair to say that he was solely the reason. Elisa wanted to change; even back then, she didn't like how angry she was. But when you're in that cycle, it's hard to get out. It's like a large whirlpool, and you're going around and around as you try to find anything to cling onto. Percy was just a big push, he was the tree root she could grab ahold of and pull herself to shore. If it wasn't for Nico, Castor and Pollux, Drew, Annabeth, or even Silena, Elisa wouldn't be ... what she is now. Especially Nico. After Bianca died, she knew she had to become better, if not just for herself but for Nico.

It had been solely him and Bianca for all he could remember. Losing a sibling is hard enough, but to be in Nico's shoes—to know nothing but Bianca, and then to lose her not just once, but twice ( even three times ), she knew he needed someone, even if Nico would never admit it. They're very similar—her and Nico. She saw a lot of herself in him, especially after Bianca's death. Back then, she knew she couldn't help him completely, but she at least knew what he was feeling, if only slightly. She knew that consuming anger, not of just the person who you felt wronged by, but of that anger for yourself.

Maybe that's why she was so angry about Nico being missing and only now just finding out. She had taken it upon herself to be that tree root in the whirlpool Nico was in, and she had failed him. She couldn't do what Percy had been able to do for her. She could only hope Nico wouldn't see it the way she would see the situation—that she had failed him when he needed her most ( after Bianca's death ).

She almost felt ... disgusted with herself. She had been so preoccupied with Percy going missing back in December that she hadn't tried her hardest to stay in touch with Nico. At the time, she rationalized to herself that Nico liked being by himself and that he tended to keep people at arm's length ( and that is true ), but maybe if she had tried harder, he wouldn't have gone looking for the Doors and disappeared.

But still, Elisa had failed Nico. She felt disgusted by herself.

It also didn't help that she was covered in tar—but that had nothing to do with wrath, anger, or failing someone.

She, Percy, and Annabeth flew on the back of a dragon—Frank the dragon. Even for the daughter of Dionysus, the God of Madness, she still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact he could transform into different animals. She could control vines and turn people insane ( it was still a work in progress trying to figure out if she could undo madness ), and Percy could breathe underwater and control the ocean, but transforming your whole body? It just didn't make sense to Elisa.

The wind whistled loudly in her ear as Frank raced for the Argo II, some tar monsters yelling after them, throwing more tar projectiles in the air. They bobbed and weaved through the air, and Elisa held one arm over her stomach, the other wrapped around Percy's. Gods, didn't she hate motion sickness. There was a reason Dionysus didn't have wings sprouting from his ankles, it was because he ( and his children ) weren't meant for air travel! ( Elisa also got car sick, and seasick, and shadow travel sick ... Safe to say she just didn't have the stomach for it. )

Fortunately for her, the Argo II appeared, floating on the surface of the lake they left it behind. One last projectile of tar flew threw the air as they got within five hundred feet of the Greek trireme, nearly hitting Elisa in the shoulder if she didn't look to her left slightly. Somehow, Frank started flying faster, crossing hundreds of feet within mere seconds. And within a blink of an eye, they were just about to land on the deck of the Argo II—

They practically landed with a SPLAT, but the size of Frank had turned the SPLAT into a THUMP that rattled the whole ship. Annabeth, Percy, and Elisa slipped off Frank's back, racing for below decks, Percy practically waddling as he cradled the bucket of tar. Elisa was first down the stairs, trying to wipe the splatters of tar off her face with the clean parts of her shirt ( which wasn't much as she had taken a direct hit of tar in the chest; not fun nor great smelling, by the way ). She was sure she only smeared the tar, making the tar freckles look like tar streaks as she stumbled towards Jason's cabin, where she knew he and Piper would be.

However, she also found Abilene, Hazel, and ... a brand-new Leo? He looked completely different—and in Elisa's opinion, not for the best ( and after being best friends with Drew Tanaka for almost three years now, she prided herself on those opinions now ). His curly hair was spiked messily, and it looked like grease had been used. And to help his hair stay up beside the grease was a pair of old welding goggles, and messily-drawn "tattoos" were all across his arms, reading something like HOT STUFF, BAD BOY, and TEAM LEO.

Elisa stopped dead in her tracks. "What the hell happened to you?"

The son of Hephaestus shot her a nasty look. "I could ask you the same thing."

She glanced down at her shirt, shrugging. "Tar monsters," she answered easily. "So ... what did happen?"

Abilene and Hazel exchanged looks. The two and Leo were stuffed in front of the doorway to Jason's cabin, holding a large sheet of hammered bronze between them.

"Long story," he answered with a huff. "So ... you guys are back?"

Elisa nodded, the confirmation being the thuds of two footsteps down the stairs. She poked her head into Jason's cabin, her eyes landing on Piper, who was sitting beside the bed, and Jason— "Oh, good. You're awake!" She breathed a sigh of relief. "You got all your memories still?"

Jason cracked a grin, though he still looked a little pale. "As far as I remember, you're Elisa, and you like to call me Blondie and Sparky."

She nodded, mostly to herself. "Yep. He's got memories."

Leo grinned slightly. "Glad you're better, Jace. And glad you still got some memories after that brick. I'll be in the engine room." And he ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving Hazel, Abilene, and Elisa in the doorway.

Piper raised an eyebrow at the two who had been with Leo. "Team Leo?" she asked.

Hazel and Abilene shared a glance. "We met Narcissus," Abilene admitted, which didn't really explain much to Elisa ( well, it did explain some; that they had a hard time with Narcissus, as everyone does ). "Also Nemesis, the Revenge Goddess."

"Oo ..." Elisa grimaced. "Not fun, huh?"

Jason sighed. "I miss all the fun."

Annabeth and Percy came running down the hall, bickering back and forth between them. Percy was toting the steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible, and Elisa had the sudden realization that she smelled like the bucket. Fortunately, Elisa wasn't the only one to get out of the attack with tar on the body; Annabeth had a patch of the stuff in her hair and Percy's shirt was also covered in it.

Piper looked between the three. "Roofing tar?" she guessed.

"Percy had to piss them off—as he always does," sniffed Annabeth, turning her head angrily.

"What?!" he shouted indignantly. "It wasn't just me this time! Elisa said they stunk worse than any—and I quote—'Cyclops she's ever met.'"

"But was I wrong?" asked Elisa, crossing her arms. "No—and get that bucket away from me!" She waved her hand at the small plume of steam pooling into the air. "It stinks!"

Percy wafted the bucket closer to her nose. "You smell like it, you know."

The daughter of Dionysus sneered at him. "I'm gonna dunk your head into that bucket, Chico Pez."

Frank stumbled up behind the three arguing, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods. The boy had a big smear of the black sludge down his face. "Sorry, guys," he apologized. "Took us longer than originally thought. Some tar monsters ran after us."

Annabeth glanced into the room, over Elisa's head, and she brightened when she saw Jason. "Hey, Jason, glad you're awake!" She turned to Abilene and Hazel. "You guys, where's Leo?"

Hazel pointed down. "Engine room."

Suddenly the entire ship tilted to port, and Elisa made a noise she wasn't proud of—a mix between a grunt and a squeal. Everyone stumbled. Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar on Elisa and Annabeth if the two hadn't jumped out of the way.

"Uh ... what was that?" he demanded, rightening the bucket.

Abilene suddenly flushed bright red, the tips of her ears turning red as they poked out from her hair. "Oh, um ... Yeah, long story—again."

Hazel looked very similar to the brunette. "We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake."

"Like ... all of them," added Abilene.

Percy didn't waste a moment before shoving the bucket into Annabeth's chest, who made a face as she hugged it close to her chest. "Great," he muttered. "You guys help Leo. I'll hold off the water spirits as long as I can."

He squeezed the upper part of Elisa's arm in passing as he ran back up the stairs to the deck. As he did, Frank called after with an "On it!"

Annabeth and Frank ran off, leaving Elisa, Abilene, and Hazel at the cabin door. The ship listed again, and Hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick. Elisa knew the feeling—and she wasn't far off from the feeling, either.

"I'll just..." Hazel swallowed harshly and pointed weakly down the passageway before she quickly ran off.

Elisa clung one hand around the frame of the door, holding her stomach as the ship rocked wildly. Waves crashed against the hull as angry voices came from above deck—Percy shouting and Coach Hedge yelling at the lake. "I hate motion sickness. And I hate the ocean."

Abilene blinked at her. "But your boyfriend ...?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Elisa waved her hand, taking a deep breath as the ship rocked again. She felt like her stomach jumped into her throat, threatening to come out and splatter across the floor. "I didn't ask for motion sickness, you know."

Abilene grinned apologetically. "Yeah ... Sorry."

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It took an hour—an hour after the ship stopped rocking like crazy and the engine room sounded like a bunch of Irish dancers with anvils tied to their feet were performing—for Elisa's stomach to settle enough that she stopped hiccuping. And fortunately, the hiccups stopped right around the time a meeting in the mess hall was to take place.

After everyone had cleaned up, Coach Hedge took the helm and the demigods gathered below for dinner. It was the first time they'd all sat down together—just the nine of them, and Elisa felt like she was at another Council Meeting in Camp Half-Blood. The feeling of familiarity didn't comfort her. With just nine demigods—the nine demigods—it was a continuous reminder that this was all real. There were some good reminders—Percy was beside her and she wasn't covered in tar anymore. But it was also the reminder that the Prophecy of Nine was finally unfolding. No more waiting for Leo to finish the ship. No more days at Camp Half-Blood, training and worrying whether Percy was alright. He was, and he was back by her side, but that also meant things were underway—along with a bunch of angry Romans behind them and with ancient lands ahead. The giants would be waiting. Gaea was rising. And unless they succeeded in this quest, the world would be destroyed.

The tension in the mess hall was severe, and it hung in the air like low-lying storm clouds. With all nine demigods in one room, it was the gut-wrenching reminder of what all nine of them were prophecied for—either to save the world or would they not?

There was an awkward moment when both Percy and Jason tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Elisa slightly rolled her eyes when sparks literally flew from Jason's hands. Both boys stared at each other for a few seconds—a silent standoff where Elisa wasn't sure if she needed to become worried or exasperated they were like this. Both glanced at the chair and then at the other, but quickly lost the chair to Annabeth, who slid behind Percy and sat down without a word. Jason and Percy glanced at each other again, coming to the silent agreement that they weren't going to argue with Annabeth; the chair was now her's.

Percy slid into the open chair beside Elisa, knocking his knee against hers. Underneath the table, he grabbed her hand and linked their fingers together. She squeezed his plam, glancing at him; he gave her a tight-lipped smile, and she swore that some of the tension fell from the air.

They all started comparing stories, and all stories were equally as crazy ( a demigod staple ). Elisa, Percy, Annabeth, and Frank had gone toe-to-toe with some tar monsters masquerading as car salesman, and all the while, Leo, Abilene, and Hazel managed to trick Narcissus into leaving his reflection behind; however, neither tale was enough to cheer them up.

Elisa found her eyes drifting to the live video of Camp Half-Blood, where she spotted the two figures of her brothers in the strawberry fields. She watched the burly figures, as the strawberry vines leaned towards them, wrapping around their ankles, legs, and arms. All of a sudden, she felt sick again. She hadn't realized just how much she missed her brothers until she remembered the distance that was now between them; they had been there over the months, there to listen as Elisa sobbed from of exhaustion and stress.

"So where to now?" Leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. "I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic."

Percy was eating a piece of pie, which was completely blue—filling, crust, even the whipped cream. The ache lifted slightly from Elisa's chest, feeling as if she was both at the camp pavilion and the Jackson apartment. "We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," he said. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

That didn't improve the mood any. In fact, the mood only soured more as they were all reminded of the Romans. She poked at her chicken wings, trying to find it within herself to eat any—she didn't, unfortunately, frowning to herself.

The silence was broken when Piper spoke up. "I ... I don't suppose we should go back and try ... reason with the Romans? Maybe—maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak."

Jason shook his head, his expression troubled. "It wasn't your fault, Pipes. Or Leo's," he added quickly, glancing at his friend. Leo's shoulder quickly slumped as he stuffed another bite of pizza into his mouth. "Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

Piper still looked uneasy. "Maybe if we could explain that, though—"

"We have no proof," Elisa pointed out bluntly. "Not any rock-solid proof. Just our word against theirs. And really, we don't know exactly what happened. I have some ideas on what happened, but ..." she shrugged, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her arms, "they're not gonna believe it."

Annabeth shot Elisa a look for the blunt delivery. "Unfortunately, Elisa's right, Piper. We don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide."

"She's right," Hazel agreed. She still looked a little queasy from seasickness, but she was trying to eat a few saltine crackers. The rim of her plate was embedded with rubies, and Elisa sure they hadn't been there at the beginning of the meal. "Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't. The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions posthac."

Piper stared down at her plate, where a couple of avocado and grilled pepper quesadillas layed, but she hadn't even taken a bit. She pushed the plate away slightly, resting her elbows on the table. "I get it. You guys are right," she decided, though her voice was heavy. "We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry."

Abilene stared at her salad, a half-eaten sub sandwich beside it on another plate. Her eyes were hard to read, but she looked ... guilt-ridden. "Nemesis said we only had six days," she started. "Six days until, um ..." She glanced at Elisa, her expression almost worried, as if Elisa was going to snap at her or something. "Six days until Nico," she glanced at Elisa again, who was starting to get annoyed, "... dies and Rome is destroyed."

Elisa shifted in her seat, poking at the vegetables on her plate now. Percy squeezed her hand again, and the back of her throat started to burn. She had months to check up on Nico, and she had wasted them. Now, she only had six days and what felt like zero leads.

Jason frowned, leaning closer to Abilene. "You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?"

The brunette nodded. "I think so. I'm—pretty sure. Either way, that's no time at all."

"Why six days?" Percy wondered aloud. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"

No one had an answer for the son of Poseidon. Elisa scowled at the rest of her food, dropping her fork and leaning back in her chair.

Piper shifted in her seat as silence settled among the nine. She tucked some hair behind her ear, looking like something was on the tip of her tongue. But after a short breath, she said, "There's more. I've been ... seeing some things. In my knife."

Both Frank and Percy blinked at her. "Seeing things?" asked Frank, a forkful of spaghetti halfway to his mouth.

"With a knife?" added Percy, holding the can of blue whipped cream.

"Helen of Troy's knife," Annabeth added quickly.

"Like that means anything to me ..." murmured Percy, adding some more whipped cream to his pie.

Frank still hadn't eaten his bite of spaghetti, some of the noodles sliding off and back onto his plate. "Well ... things such as ...?" he prompted.

"They don't really make sense," Piper admitted with a flush of embarrassment. She hadn't expected people to voice confusion about the knife thing, apparently. "Just ... garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe twins."

Somehow, Elisa's appetite became worse. Her stomach dropped and she nearly let her head thump against the table with exhaustion. She knew of some twins in Greek mythology, and very few wore matchy-matchy clothes. Annabeth's grey eyes darkened, and they drifted over and fixed on the magical feed of Camp Half-Blood. And Elisa wished she hadn't looked with her—right now it showed the living room in the Big House, and she could almost feel the cozy fire from the hearth and the small sounds as Chiron and her dad played a round of pinochle ( or Go Fish, though Dionysus would never admit to playing it ), she could even hear the sound of Seymour, the stuffed leopard head, as he snored contentedly above the mantel.

"Twins ..." the daughter of Athena murmured. "Like in Ella's prophecy. If we could figure out those lines, it might help."

"Wisdom's daughter walks alone," Percy recalled the lines. His leg started to bounce anxiously. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome." He glanced at Annabeth. "That's got to mean you. Juno—Hera, whatever—told me ... Well, she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She said she doubted you could do it—but I know she's wrong."

Elisa looked at Annabeth. The two had only known each other since they were fourteen, but after everything, they were like best friends. There wasn't much they kept from each other, not anymore at least. After studying, navigating, and surviving the labyrinth. Elisa being there when Annabeth was struggling with Luke's final offer to run away. Annabeth being there for Elisa after Percy went missing. The two shared practically everything, and that included something as scary as Athena giving Annabeth a coin. Elisa didn't know what the coin meant, and Annabeth never really explained ( or if she really knew ), but Elisa could tell that it was important to Annabeth.

Silently, Annabeth locked eyes with her, and the message was sent: Don't say anything. Not yet. Elisa took the message to heart, letting out a deep breath through her nose. Annabeth set her brow, suddenly determined. "Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired on us. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors—something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."

Abilene, Leo, and Hazel exchanged nervous looks. "Nemesis mentioned something similar," the son of Hephaestus admitted. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled—"

"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Hazel recalled. " It was something like ... 'An old—"

"'An old wrong finally avenged,'" Abilene rattled off the lines.

Elisa watched as Percy drew a frowny face in his blue whipped cream. "I was only a praetor for about two hours." He glanced up at the son of Jupiter. "Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?"

The blond was watching Percy draw the sad face with bewilderment. "I ... Is that a frowny face? I—I mean, uh, I'm not sure," he finally got out. "I'll give it some thought."

Percy narrowed his eyes. He could tell the son of Jupiter wasn't being entirely truthful. "You're not sure?"

Elisa frowned, looking between her boyfriend and Jason. She knew Jason wasn't telling the truth ( a vein tended to pop on in his neck when he lied ), but she also knew he would lie for good reasons. Though, she wasn't sure if there was ever a good reason to lie in situations like this. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, knowing there was something about this old legend he didn't want to talk about. Jason locked eyes with her, and he silently pleaded, Later.

Hazel broke the silence. "What about the other lines?" She turned her ruby-encrusted plate. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath/Who holds the key to endless death."

"Giants' bane stands gold and pale," Frank added. "Won through pain from a woven jail."

"Giants' bane," Leo muttered, picking a slice of pepperoni off his pizza. He tossed it into his mouth, quickly eating it. "Anything that's a giants' bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their act together, that's good."

Percy gave Jason one last suspicious look before moving on. "We can't kill the giants without the help of the gods," he agreed with a sour tone. "Which is totally unfair ..."

Jason turned to Abilene, Frank, and Hazel. His eyes were like storm clouds. "I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without a god's help, with no help from any god."

"Alcyoneus was a special case," Frank explained. "He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn—Alaska. But not in Canada. I wish I could kill all the giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska into Canada, but ..." He shrugged, twirling spaghetti noodles around his silver fork. "Percy's right, we'll need the gods."

Elisa gazed at the walls. She was really wishing Leo hadn't added the enchantment to show Camp Half-Blood now. It was like a doorway to home that she may never have the chance to go back to. She thought about being inside Cabin Twelve again, laying on her bed as Castor, Pollux, and Drew were all around, talking and laughing amongst themselves.

"So ..." Leo pushed his chair away from the table. "First things first, I guess. We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."

"Someplace close to a city," Annabeth suggested, "in case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"

No one spoke for a moment. But Piper quickly pursed her lips, resting her hand where she always kept Katoptris. "Well ..." she ventured, "how do you guys feel about Kansas?"

Elisa's brows furrowed. "What the hell's in Kansas?"

Piper grinned sheepishly. "I'm ... not quite sure," she admitted. "It's what my knife showed me. Something about a Topkea 32."

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The meeting wrapped up on that note, and all nine demigods stood up and started to shuffle out of the room. Before Elisa could step away from the table, Percy grabbed her by the arm and kept her rooted in place. The rest of them stepped into the hallway, with Piper poking Leo in the back to make him hurry up as she noticed Percy wanted a moment alone.

Elisa had thought about this moment for months—to have Percy back and to be alone. But now that it was here, she wanted to bolt. After six months of him being missing ( and after snapping at him back at Camp Jupiter ), there was a lot that needed to be said, only she didn't have the words. She didn't even know if she had her mind wrapped around it all—what his absence had done to her, especially. She wasn't even sure if Percy had any idea that those six months had changed her; she didn't know how much those six months had changed him, either.

Percy still had ahold of her arm. And he stared at her face like he was trying to analyze every feature. The idea embarrassed her and she blurted, "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. About Nico. And you 'keeping' that from me. There was no—possible way you could've told me before then. I was just overwhelmed—"

"S'okay." He shrugged. "I knew ... Well, I know Nico means a lot to you. For a time, I couldn't really remember why; I just knew. I wanted to tell you about Nico—about everything—when we had time alone. That just never really panned out ..."

"Mostly 'cause I stormed off," she insisted.

Percy grinned slightly. "It's upsetting news. Nico's like a brother. I would be ... gutted to hear Tyson went looking for the Doors of Death and got taken."

Elisa nodded slightly, looking back down at the table. This pained her—the conversation with Percy. And it was such a strange feeling. For six months, she poured everything she had into trying to find him. She did everything she could to not forget a single detail about him—his smile, his laugh, the way his eyes crinkled. The little things about a person you don't notice until they're not there. And if the moment ever came that she found him, she was terrified he would have no memory of her; not even the little things about her, just absolutely no memory of her. But she learned that he did have memories of her, but that fear never lifted. Now, she was terrified she would have no idea how to act around him—whether they would go back to square one or if things would pick up where they left off. Or, even worse, if they were in some middle ground.

Percy sighed, but admitted, "I was also worried you would be angry that Nico had found Camp Jupiter, knew where I was, and never told you."

"I—" She crossed her arms, forcing Percy to let go of her. "I ... didn't even think about it that way."

She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. Whether that meant Percy knew her like she was the back of his hand, or if it meant that she had lost herself all over again over these six months. But it also reminded her just how much Percy meant to her. From the moment they met, he had always been there, thinking of how she'd feel.

She looked at him, trying to smile. "We'll figure it out. Nico's tough. He survived the labyrinth just by himself and that gods-awful ghost Minos. He learned how to fight from the dead." She nodded slowly to herself. "He'll figure it out, just as we are."

"Just ... be careful, Elisa," Percy said.

"That's ironic for you to say." She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Hey, I'm trying to be a good boyfriend here!" he countered. "I'm six months out of practice!"

Despite the reminder, Elisa grinned. When they were fourteen, she probably would've scowled at him and told him to Go choke, but she grinned and grabbed his shirt to pull him in for a kiss.

Fourteen-year-old Elisa would've spontaneously combust without the help of a god at the sheer grossness of the idea of kissing Percy. Seventeen-year-old Elisa grinned into the kiss, pulling him closer by the collar of his shirt. And when they pulled away, the two practically glued their sides together as they walked out of the mess hall. She took a deep breath, smelling the air of the ocean, and felt as close as home could be.

👑  AUG. 25TH, 2024  / everyone can stop yelling at me now!! i updated!! but i started my freshman year of college (and i already want to be done :3) i'm already tired of this grandpa (i have to read like four different chapters for a different class each why is there so much reading for college *sobs*)

so what i'm saying is that updates might become even more sporadic - or maybe i'll find a groove and update semi-consistently (but don't hold out hope lol)

to make all of you sad, elisa tries to hard for nico because - in some twisted way - she's trying to save the younger version of herself she sees in him :3 obviously because she does love and care for him, but she also does see herself in him and wants to try and protect him the way she hadn't been protected

anyways, thoughts? opinions??

(not edited, nor proofread)