ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter three

━━ HAVING HAD ONLY been at Camp for around five months, Elisa didn't have much authority to demand they had a war council that very minute. Not even with your father as the camp director did her words have any more sovereignty.

What was the point in having Dionysus as her father, at that point?

No matter what Elisa demanded, Chiron pushed back. He insisted that they would talk in the morning, promising the daughter of Dionysus that she would be allowed in the meeting since she was one of two who found the Labyrinth and had been helping with the Labyrinth investigation for so long.

Both acted like they knew Elisa wouldn't spy on this meeting if she wasn't allowed in.

She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep, not after what she found. ( Did she ever really sleep, even after a cozy ending to a day? ) Without sleep and having to wait until morning did give Elisa plenty of time to think and mull.

Eventually, after a lot of gnawing on her bottom lip, the sun started to rise. Castor, Pollux, and Elisa left Cabin Twelve when Chiron called a war council. They met in the sword arena, which was pretty strange to Elisa—trying to discuss the fate of Camp Half-Blood while Mrs. O'Leary chewed on a life-sized squeaky pink rubber yak.

Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse and Annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover sat as far away from each other as possible. Percy had his ballpoint pen, twisting around his fingers. Also around the table: Juniper, Silena, Travis and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee, and even Argus, the hundred-eyed security chief.

Pollux whispered to Elisa. "This one is a serious one." He nodded to Argus. "He never comes to the meetings unless something major is going on."

"I figured this is an important meeting, Pollux," said Elisa. "Percy and I found the Labyrinth."

She walked over to Clarisse and Annabeth, sitting with the two at the head of the table. Argus was watching the three so hard that Elisa could see his neck was turning red.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said, starting off the meeting. "He knew everything about Camp."

Elisa thought she heard a little pride in Annabeth's voice, as if she still respected the guy, even with how evil he was.

Juniper cleared her throat. "That's what I was trying to tell Percy and Elisa last night. The cave entrance has been there for a long time. Luke used to use it."

Silena frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"

The nymph's face turned green. "I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky caves."

"She has good taste." Grover nodded.

"I wouldn't have paid any attention except ... well, it was Luke." She blushed a little greener.

Grover huffed. "Forget what I said about good taste."

"Interesting." Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"

"Obviously. He'd be a dumbass not to," said Elisa. "If Luke can get an army of monsters in that maze and lead them here without having to worry about the magical borders, of course he's gonna do that. And we wouldn't have stood a chance since we didn't know that entrance was there. He could've wiped us out easily. I bet he was planning that for months."

"He's been sending scouts into the maze," said Annabeth. "We know because ... because we found one."

"Chris Rodriguez," said Chiron, giving Quintus a look.

"Ah," said the sword instructor. "The one in the ... Yes. I understand."

"The one in the what?" Percy asked.

Elisa glanced at the Clarisse quickly from the corner of her eye.

The daughter of Ares glared at Percy. "The point is, Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's searching for Daedalus's workshop."

Percy's brows furrowed. "The guy who created the maze."

"Yes," said Annabeth. "The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If the legends are true, his workshop is in the center of the Labyrinth. He's the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. If Luke managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, Luke wouldn't have to fumble around searching for paths, or risk losing his army in the maze's traps. He could navigate anywhere he wanted—quickly and safely. First to Camp Half-Blood to wipe us out. Then ... to Olympus."

The arena was silent except for Mrs. O'Leary's toy yak getting disemboweled: SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

Finally, Beckendorf put his huge hands on the table. "Back up a sec. Annabeth, you said 'convince Daedalus'. Isn't Daedalus dead?"

Quintus grunted. "I would hope so. He lived, what, three thousand years ago? And, even if he were alive, don't the old stories say he fled from the Labyrinth?"

Chiron clopped restlessly on his hooves. "That's the problem, my dear Quintus. No one knows. There are rumours ... well, there are many disturbing rumours about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth towards the end of his life. He might still be down there."

"We need to go in," Annabeth announced. "We have to find the workshop before Luke does. If Daedalus is alive, we convince him to help us, not Luke. If Ariadne's string still exists, we make sure it never falls into Luke's hands."

"Wait a second," said Percy. "If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?"

"Great idea!" Grover said. "I'll get the dynamite!"

"It's not so easy, dumbass," Clarisse growled. "We tried that at the entrance we found in Phoenix. It didn't go well."

Elisa nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't work that way—it'd just be too easy, I guess. The Labyrinth is magical. It's like its entirely own entity. It would take huge power to seal just one entrance. In Phoenix, Clarisse demolished a whole building with a wrecking ball, and the entrance just moved to a new building a few feet away. The best we can do is prevent Luke from learning how to navigate the Labyrinth and from getting his hands on Ariadne's string."

"We could fight," Lee suggested. "We know where the entrance is now. We can set up a defensive line and wait for them. If an army tries to come through, they'll find us waiting with our bows."

"We will certainly set up defenses," Chiron agreed. "But I fear Elisa is right. The magical borders have kept this camp safe for hundreds of years. If Luke manages to get a large army of monsters into the center of Camp, bypassing our boundaries ... we may not have the strength to defeat them."

Nobody looked very happy at Chiron's news. The centaur usually tried to be upbeat and optimistic. If he was predicting they couldn't hold off an attack, that wasn't good.

"We have to get to Daedalus's workshop first," Annabeth insisted. "Find Ariadne's string and prevent Luke from using it."

"But if nobody can navigate in there," Percy said, "what chances do we have?"

"I've been studying architecture for years," Annabeth said, narrowing her eyes at him. Drew and she had a gossip session about the latest war game, and the blonde wasn't happy learning what happened back at Goode. "I know Daedalus's Labyrinth better than anybody."

"From reading about it."

"Well, yes."

"That's not enough."

"It has to be!"

"It isn't!"

"Hey!" Elisa yelled, her voice ringing around the arena. "Can you fucking stop that? I thought you two could work together, why the hell are you bickering like kids?"

Everybody was watching the three like they were a bomb waiting to detonate. Mrs. O'Leary's squeaky yak gave one last feeble SQUEAK! as she ripped its pink rubber head off.

Chiron cleared his throat. "First things first. We need a quest. Someone must enter the Labyrinth, find the workshop of Daedalus and prevent Luke from using the maze to invade this camp."

"We all know who should lead this," said Clarisse. "Annabeth."

There was a murmur of agreement. Elisa knew Annabeth had been wanting to lead a quest since she was very young. But when Elisa looked over, the usually proudful eyes of Annabeth were painfully uncomfortable.

"Clarisse and Elisa have done as much as I have," she said. "They should go, too."

The daughter of Ares shook her head. "I'm not going back in there."

Travis chuckled. "Don't tell me you're scared. Clarisse, chicken?"

Clarisse got to her feet. Elisa assumed the girl was going to pulverize Travis, but she said in a shaky voice: "You don't understand anything, asshole. I'm never going in there again. Never!"

And the daughter of Ares stormed out of the arena.

Travis looked around sheepishly. "I didn't mean to—"

Chiron raised his hand. "The poor girl has had a difficult year. Now, do we have agreement that Annabeth should lead the quest?"

Everyone nodded. Elisa noticed how Quintus didn't; he folded his arms at the table with pursed lips.

"Very well." Chiron turned to Annabeth. "My dear, it's your time to visit the Oracle. Assuming you return to us in one piece, we shall discuss what to do next."

Elisa shared a look with the daughter of Athena before Annabeth walked out. Once the blonde was out the door, Elisa sat back down, pulling herself closer to the table. No one said a word after.

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Waiting for Annabeth was harder than watching Camp Half-Blood's Oracle-mummy travel across snowy land to deliver a deadly prophecy.

That was saying something considering just how much the last prophecy turned Elisa's life around.

All Elisa could do was stare at the floor, tapping a finger on the table. When Castor grabbed her hand, her knee started bouncing. Elisa knew Percy was pacing around the arena, having spoken a couple of words to him as he walked behind her. Mrs. O'Leary ate her lunch, which consisted of a hundred pounds of ground beef and several dog biscuits the size of trash-can lids. Chiron and Quintus were in a deep conversation with Argus. To Elisa it looked like the three were disagreeing about something; Quintus kept shaking his head. On the other side of the arena, Tyson and the Stolls were racing a miniature bronze chariot that Tyson had made out of armor scraps.

Elisa looked up when Percy approached her. His face was set with uneasy lines.

"Hey," he said.

"Yeah?" she said, leaning back in her chair. "What's up?"

"I can't just wait here anymore," Percy said. "I'm leaving."

It was obvious that he was heavily hinting that he wanted Elisa to walk with him. The brunette didn't need to be some mega-genius to figure that out.

"Uh, okay," she said, sliding her chair away from the table. "I'll walk with you."

The pair left the arena. Elisa stopped in sequence with Percy, following his line of sight across the fields of camp. He was looking at the Big House's attic windows, which were dark and still. Elisa had never been up there and never wanted to go up from the stories she heard about the Oracle and her fatal prophecies. Was Annabeth okay? Elisa knew people had gone insane after visiting the Oracle in her attic.

"Percy! Elisa!" a girl whispered.

Juniper was standing in the bushes. It was weird how she almost turned invisible when she was surrounded by plants.

She gestured them over urgently. "You guys need to know: Luke wasn't the only one I saw around that cave?"

"What do you mean?" asked Percy.

Juniper glanced back at the arena. "I was trying to say something, but he was right there?"

Elisa's brows furrowed. "Who, Juniper?"

"The sword master," said the nymph. "He was poking around the rocks."

Elisa clenched her jaw, glancing back at the arena herself. "Quintus? When?" she asked urgently.

"I don't know. I don't pay attention to time. Maybe a week ago, when he first showed up."

"What was he doing?" Percy asked. "Did he go in?"

"I—I'm not sure. He's creepy, Percy. I didn't even see him come into the glade. Suddenly, he was just there. You have to tell Grover it's too dangerous—"

"Juniper?" Grover called from inside the arena. "Where'd you go?"

She sighed. "I'd better go in. Just remember what I said. Don't trust that man!"

"We need to tell Chiron," Elisa said as she watched Juniper run for the arena. "About Quintus and what Juniper saw."

"What is he gonna do?" countered Percy. "Kick him out?"

Elisa shrugged. "Find out what Quintus's intentions are?" she suggested.

Percy looked back to the Big House. "The Oracle shouldn't be taking this long, right?"

Elisa frowned, looking back as well. "Why are you asking me? You're the one that's gone to get a prophecy from her."

That seemed to answer Percy's question. He grabbed her hand, pulling her along to the Big House. He didn't stop running until the two reached the front parlor of the Big House. It was strangely quiet. Elisa had gotten accustomed to seeing her father lounging by the fireplace, playing cards and eating grapes, but he was still away, following his father's orders.

The two walked down the hallway, Percy still had ahold of Elisa's hand. The floorboards cracked under their feet. When they got to the base of the stairs, Percy hesitated. Four floors above would be a small trapdoor that led into the attic. Annabeth would be up there, receiving her prophecy.

Elisa glanced nervously at the staircase that led downward, down into the basement. She could hear sobbing—Chris's sobbing. Sobbing she had gotten used to over the months of trying to cure him.

Percy heard the sobs, too. He took one step toward the stairs that led to the basement. Elisa jerked her arm out, smacking Percy in the chest. He gave her an annoyed look, pushing her arm out of his way. He peered inside, with Elisa hissing at him to get back.

There were two figures in the far corner, they were sitting amid a bunch of stockpiled cases of ambrosia and strawberry preserves. Chris and Clarisse. Chris was still wearing tattered camouflage combats and his dirty black T-shirt. His hair was greasy and matted. He was hugging his shoulders and sobbing into his arms.

"It's okay," Clarisse was telling him. "Try a little more nectar."

"You're an illusion, Mary!" Chris backed further into the corner. "G-get away!"

The daughter of Ares's voice was gentle but sad: "My name's not Mary. My name is Clarisse. Remember. Please."

"It's dark!" Chris wailed. "So dark!"

"Come outside," coaxed Clarisse. "The sunlight will help you."

"A ... a thousand skulls. The earth keeps healing him."

"Chris," she pleaded. It sounded like she was close to tears. "You have to get better. Please. Elisa's trying to help you, her dad—Mr. D—he's an expert in madness. He'll be back soon, just hang on."

Chris's eyes were like a cornered rat's—wild and desperate. "There's no way out, Mary. No way out."

Then he caught of glimpse of Percy and made a strangled, terrified noise from the back of his throat. "The son of Poseidon! He's horrible!"

Percy backed away, bumping into Elisa, who had to grab his shoulder to keep from falling. The two waited with bated breath to see if Clarisse would come up those stairs, in pursuit of what Chris yelled at. Instead, she kept talking to Chris in a sad, pleading voice, trying to get him to drink more nectar. She had to think that was part of Chris's hallucinations. But ... son of Poseidon? Chris had been looking at Percy, but Elisa knew that Chris wasn't talking about that son of Poseidon.

Clarisse's tenderness—it was something Elisa had seen every time she was asked to help Chris, but it was something she never expected for the daughter of Ares. It was clear to see that Clarisse knew Chris before he joined Luke, it was easy to tell Clarisse considered him something more than a friend, too. But now, Chris Rodriguez was just a shivering kid in a dark basement, having seen something so horrible that it drove him past the brink of insanity.

There was a creak above Percy and Elisa—like a trapdoor opening—and Elisa pulled Percy along as she ran for the front door. They needed to get out of the Big House before Clarisse decided to investigate Chris's yelling or Annabeth walked down and saw them snooping around.

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"My dear," said Chiron. "You made it."

Annabeth walked into the arena. She sat on a stone bench and stared at the floor.

"Well?" Quintus asked.

Annabeth looked at Percy and Elisa first. She looked terrified. Something Elisa had never seen from the blonde; not even on Mount Othrys with Kronos's palace rising around them. Slowly, Annabeth looked back at Quintus. "I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop."

She finally received a prophecy, and was finally going to lead a quest, but for such a task? Nobody cheered for her, nobody said "Congratulations", and nobody looked relieved. Not with such a dangerous quest ahead of her.

Chiron scraped a hoof on the dirt floor. "What did the prophecy say exactly, my dear? The wording is important."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "I, ah ... Well, it said, You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze ..."

They waited.

"The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."

Grover perked up. "The lost one! That must mean Pan! That's great!"

"It also said 'dead' and 'traitor', Grover," Elisa pointed out. "That's not so great."

"And?" Chiron asked Annabeth. "What is the rest?"

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," said Annabeth, "the child of Athena's final stand.'

Everyone looked around uncomfortably. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, and a "final stand" never sounds good.

"Hey ... we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Silena said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"

"But who's this ghost king?" Beckendorf asked.

No one answered. Elisa thought about the dream she'd seen of Nico summoning spirits. She had a bad feeling Nico was involved.

"Are there more lines?" Chiron asked. "The prophecy does not sound complete."

Annabeth hesitated. "I don't remember exactly."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. Annabeth was known for her memory. She never forgot something she had heard.

Annabeth shifted on her bench. "Something about ... Destroy with a hero's final breath."

"And?" Chiron urged.

The blonde stood. "Look, the point is, I have to go in. I'll find the workshop and stop Luke. And ... I need help." She turned to the daughter of madness a few seats down. "You've helped this entire investigation, you have every right to go, Elisa."

Elisa shifted in her seat. Every right to go? She didn't want to go. But if Nico was down in that maze—and she believed it was highly possible if there were ways the Labyrinth could lead to the Underworld—she had to go. She had to find Nico and get him away from that ghost. Elisa had to stop Luke; she saw what he was capable of back on Mount Othrys, what he was building, and the army he was growing with Kronos.

"Yeah," she said. "I'll go."

Annabeth turned to Percy. "Will you?"

The son of Poseidon didn't even hesitate. "I'm in."

Annabeth started smiling, for the first time in days. "Grover, you too? The wild god is waiting."

The satyr seemed to have forgotten how much he hated the underground. The line about the "lost one" had completely energized him. "I'll pack extra recyclables for snacks!"

Chiron was starting to frown as Annabeth turned to Percy's brother. "And Tyson," she said. "I'll need you, too."

"Yay! Blow-things-up time!" The Cyclops clapped so hard he woke up Mrs. O'Leary, who was dozing in the corner.

"Wait, Annabeth," said Chiron. "This goes against the ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions."

"I need them all," she insisted. "Chiron, it's important."

"Annabeth." The centaur's tail flicked nervously. "Consider well. You would be breaking ancient laws, and there are always consequences. Think on that. Three is a sacred number. There are three Fates, three Furies, three Olympian sons of Kronos. It is a good, strong number that stands against many dangers. Five ... this is risky."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "I know. But we have to. Please."

Elisa could tell that Chiron didn't like it. Quintus was studying the five questers, as if he was trying to decide which of the three would make it back alive and the two who would die.

Chiron sighed. "Very well. Let us adjourn. The members of the quest must prepare themselves. Tomorrow at dawn, we send you into the Labyrinth."

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Annabeth pulled Elisa aside outside the arena. "I have some maps we should make one last look at," she told the daughter of Dionysus.

Elisa stuffed her hands into her back pockets. "Annabeth, we've gone over them a thousand times."

"I know!" the daughter of Athena said shrilly. "Just one last look. Please."

It was more than those confusing maps, Elisa knew it. So she followed Annabeth to Cabin Six, the cabin built for Athena and her demigod offspring. Cabin Six hadn't changed much since Elisa first arrived, it still looked like the perfect place for the children of Athena to stay. It was a brainiac workshop, having everything they could need.

Across the desk built underneath a bookshelf built from floor to ceiling were scrolls. The scrolls covered the entire desk so that Elisa could no longer see the oak wood. Annabeth started rifling through them as Elisa picked one up.

"So which map?" asked Elisa, to keep up the ruse.

"The prophecy," said Annabeth. "It ..." Her eyes bore through the scroll she held in her hands.

"Scares you?" Elisa offered.

"That obvious?"

Elisa rolled up the scroll, tossing it back on the table. The two watched it bounce four times before settling. "Yeah," she said. "That's obvious. And you do remember what the rest of it was."

Annabeth pulled a chair over with her foot. She sat down heavily, placing her hands on her knees. Elisa sat on the very edge of a nearby bed, leaning closer to the blonde.

"We need to know," Elisa insisted. "Maybe we can try and understand."

The daughter of Athena rubbed her eyes, dragging them down and over her mouth.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,
The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise,
You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,
The child of Athena's final stand,
Destroy with a hero's final breath,
And lose a love to worse than death."

A ringing silence followed the prophecy. Elisa didn't actually expect the blonde to tell her. The daughter of Dionysus watched Annabeth with weary eyes.

"Do you know what it means?" she asked, filling the stillness.

"I have some ideas," admitted Annabeth. "Obviously the first line is us going into the Labyrinth. The dead and traitor, I have no idea who they are. But the lost one has to be Pan. But the ghost king?" She shrugged.

"That could be Nico," Elisa offered. "I know he's been exploring the Labyrinth. You said it was possible that it could lead to the Underworld."

Annabeth didn't look convinced. "Nico's exploring the Labyrinth? I mean ... it's possible," she said. "But it also says that we might rise or fall by his hands."

Elisa pushed back her hair. "Yeah," she murmured, rubbing her hands. "That's not so good ..."

"And neither is the 'the child of Athena's final stand'." Annabeth picked up another scroll, worrying at it nervously.

"Final stand doesn't always mean death," said Elisa. "It could just be talking about making a decision—"

Annabeth looked at her, her grey eyes were dark. "The next two lines talk about death. We can assume that 'final stand' is death."

The look on Annabeth's face kept Elisa from bringing up the last line. Everyone knew of Annabeth's feelings for Luke, even after all he had done. And losing a love to a worse fate than death? Elisa didn't even want to think of what that could mean herself.

Elisa reached for a scroll, unfolding it to read the contents. It was all writing this time, some of it was older with the fading ink, but some of it was newer with fresh ink and Annabeth's neat handwriting.

"Which scroll is that?" asked Annabeth. "What's written in it?"

"Oh, uh ..." Elisa flattened the paper over her legs, reading the first few words. "It's about—"

"Knock, knock?" came a voice behind them.

They both turned with a start. Percy stood in the doorway of Cabin Six, his hand on the doorknob.

"Oh ... hi," said Annabeth. "Didn't hear you."

Percy locked eyes with Elisa. "You two okay?"

Elisa raised her eyebrows silently, turning back around. Annabeth looked far from okay and Elisa was sure she didn't look much better. Annabeth's hair was halfway falling out of her ponytail, looking like she had tried to put up on half but had given up when it go too messy. Her grey eyes were dark in the lights. A heavy crease was between her eyebrows and her lips were cracked from constant chewing on them.

Annabeth frowned at the scroll in her hands. "Just trying to do some research. Daedalus's Labyrinth is so huge. None of the stories agree about anything. The maps just lead from nowhere to nowhere."

"We'll figure it out," Percy promised.

They've been trying for months to figure it out. They had made no progress. Elisa wasn't sure if they were ever going to.

"I've wanted to lead a quest since I was seven," said Annabeth.

Elisa curled her scroll back up, saying, "And you're going to do great."

The blonde tried smiling at Elisa. "I'm just worried," she admitted. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked you guys to do this. Or Tyson and Grover."

"Hey, we're your friends," said Percy. "We wouldn't miss it."

"But ..." Annabeth stopped herself.

"What is it?" Percy asked. "The prophecy?"

She said in a small voice, "I'm sure it's fine."

Neither of them believed her.

However, Percy was the only one brave enough to do anything. "What was the last line?" he asked.

Annabeth's chin started quivering. She blinked back tears. She placed the scroll back on the table, leaning her back against it. Elisa could see her hands were shaking.

Elisa wasn't one for hugs, but Annabeth's need for one was greater than Elisa's disdain for them. The brunette stood up and wrapped her arms around the blonde's shoulders. Annabeth brought her hands up to grip Elisa's shoulders; she was shivering with held-back sobs.

The two had grown close over the five months. With the investigation of the Labyrinth, talking about what led them to camp, and what kept them going, the two were an unlikely friendship that was blooming. Almost as unlikely as the friendship-turned-agonizing-one-sided-crush between Elisa and Percy. Neither Annabeth nor Percy liked Elisa's father much, but they both proved that her heritage didn't confine her to what she could be.

"Chiron might be right," Annabeth muttered into Elisa's shoulder. "I'm breaking the rules. But I don't know what else to do. I need you four. It just feels right."

Elisa pulled away, saying, "Then it is. Don't question your gut."

"Exactly," said Percy. "We've had plenty of problems before, and we solved them."

"This is different," said Annabeth. "I don't want anything happening to ... any of you."

Malcolm, Annabeth's half-sibling, entered the cabin. He didn't look surprised to see Elisa there, but he looked shocked to find Percy. His eyebrows furrowed as he said, "Annabeth, archery practice is starting. Chiron said to come find you."

Annabeth put away a few of the scrolls. "Tell Chiron I'll be right there."

Malcolm nodded and left.

The daughter of Athena looked at Elisa and Percy. "You guys go ahead. I'd better get ready for archery."

"Annabeth?" Percy asked. "About your prophecy. The line about a hero's last breath—?"

"You're wondering which hero? I don't know."

"No. Something else. I was thinking the last lie usually rhymes with the one before it. Was it something about—? Did it end in the word 'death'?"

Annabeth barely paused. She didn't even look at Elisa or Percy. "You better go, Percy. You two should get ready for the quest. I'll—I'll see you in the morning."

And so, Percy and Elisa left her there, staring at maps that led from nowhere to nowhere. Elisa shut the door to Cabin Six softly behind her, catching up with Percy.

"Why would you ask her that?" she asked the son of Poseidon furiously.

"Elisa, we need to know the full prophecy!" said Percy.

"I think we should," agreed Elisa with a casual shrug; a pathetic attempt to keep Percy from forming the idea that she did know. "But why in the gods' name would you ask if someone is going to die when she's already worried about that?"

"Because it would be nice to know," said Percy, raising his hands dramatically. "Since when did you and Annabeth become such good friends? And friends with Drew? And Clarisse?

Elisa stopped in her tracks. The two had to head in opposite directions to go to their cabins. "Why the hell are you asking about that?"

"I'd like to know," said Percy. "I mean, don't you know how Clarisse treats me?"

"And you can be amicable to her, so why can't I?" said Elisa. "I've been helping Annabeth and Clarisse for months, we were bound to start becoming friends."

"So what about Drew?" asked Percy.

"What about Drew?" Elisa countered.

Percy's eyebrows were furrowed. He was scowling. "From the way people talk, it sounds like you two are more than friends."

Elisa jerked backward. She blinked at him. "What?" she asked. "Are you serious right now?"

Percy nodded.

Elisa narrowed her eyes. "Why does it fucking matter who I am friends with? Or who I'm 'more than friends' with? It doesn't really concern you, I don't think."

"Maybe I want to know who my friends associate with," said Percy. "Is that really such a bad thing to wonder about?"

Elisa glared. "No. The problem is that you're questioning me. Like I'm some criminal. Don't ever talk to me that way, Jackson."

She turned on her heels, storming her way over to Cabin Twelve. Percy watched her walk with squared shoulders and narrowed eyes. He turned a hundred and eighty degrees until he faced Cabin Three and started walking in that direction.

👑  SEPT. 30TH, 2022  /  percy realizing elisa might be gay not like guys at all:

anyways, who do you think is saying that kind of stuff :) (def all of you bc u want drew and elisa to date so badly)