ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter twenty-one

━━ COMPARED TO MOUNT Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Something Elisa never expected for the most densely populated area of New York City. Percy explained to her that it wasn't uncommon for the days upcoming Christmas that the streets would turn deadly hushed. Maybe they were all with their families.

               Argus, the hundred-eyed security chief, picked up Elisa, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth at the Empire State Building and ferried them back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted, it looked like nothing compared to the time Elisa flew over it with Percy on the back of Blackjack.

               Trudging up Half-Blood Hill to a tall pine tree where a golden fleece was glittering brightly. Elisa stared at Thalia's pine tree with a growing frown. At the moment, for once, there was nothing to be upset about, but yet, she felt troubled. Maybe she should, perhaps that was the proper response to everything that had transpired over the days.

               Perhaps she felt upset when Thalia wasn't standing at the base of the tree where her life force had once been preserved. It was silly and irrational to expect the daughter of Zeus to be around. Thalia was on some new, grand adventure with Artemis as the new lieutenant of the Hunt.

               Chiron greeted them at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about what had happened in New Mexico. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

               Chiron stopped Elisa outside the headquarters. He held a golden drachma in his hand. "Your father told me there was someone you needed to call," he said.

               Elisa blinked up at the centaur. "What?" she asked dimly.

               The teacher grabbed her wrist, placed the drachma on her palm, and closed her fingers around it. "Follow me," the centaur said. "My office will give you privacy to call him."

               The daughter of Dionysus shared an apprehensive look with Percy and Annabeth. She followed after Chiron and to a room lined with bronze walls. The square room had a record player and a full-screen TV; a computer and a boom box sat on an oak desk. There were small knickknacks placed around, giving the room a homely look to it.

               Chiron grabbed a clear prism off one of the shelves, placing it on a stack of papers in the middle of the desk. The glass prism refracted the moonlight coming from the closest window. The rainbow glittered lustrously, dancing across the desk. The centaur moved to stand behind the desk, clasping his hands in front of him.

               "The drachma, please," he said.

               Elisa held up the drachma with confusion. "What's this for?" she asked.

               "I'm sure Grover explained to you that telephones were dangerous for half-bloods," said the centaur. Elisa nodded along. "Well, this" —he seized the ancient coin out of her hands— "is how we make calls instead."

               Chiron flipped the coin into the rainbow, saying, "'O Iris, accept my offering." He looked to Elisa. "Callum Belshaw, Albuquerque, New Mexico."

               The rainbow shimmered and the floating image of Callum appeared before Chiron and Elisa. Callum was in the bakery, that much Elisa knew, because the son of Aphrodite had on a plain shirt and pants covered in flour. He had a coffee mug in his hands as he sat on a stool behind a dirty counter. It seemed like he had let his hair grow out but had braided it to keep it out of his way.

               "Mr. Belshaw," Chiron said, announcing their presence.

               Callum flinched, nearly dropping his coffee mug. He looked around for the source of the voice, his eyes locking on the sight of his former activities director and Elisa.

               He shook his head and started murmuring under his breath. "Gods, I forget ..." He rubbed his eyes, a streak of flour covering his dark eyebrow. "I forgot all about I.M."

               Elisa grinned at him. "You're not gonna say hello?"

               Callum started to smile back. "You still have blue hair, I see."

               The smile faded away just as quickly as it appeared. "I hate you," Elisa snapped. "Was that really necessary?"

               Chiron seemed less tense than he was before. "Catch up," he said. "Elisa, I think you have a lot to tell Mr. Belshaw."

               "Right," Elisa said quietly. She watched Camp Half-Blood's activities director trot out of the room.

               "You made it," Callum said brightly. "After how long?"

          "... Two years," she said slowly.

               "Two years," repeated Callum. He was watching her. "A lot happened?"

               "You have no idea."

               Callum shifted in his seat, sitting taller than he was previously. "I'm also a demigod, Elisa, don't forget that. How long have you been at camp?"

               "A week, I think," said Elisa. "I got here on the fifteen. I know who my godly parent is, too."

               Callum raised his eyebrows. "Really?" he asked excitedly. "Who is it?"

               "Dionysus."

               The son of Aphrodite had been reaching for his blue mug but stopped at the name. He sat for a moment, as if he was thinking of past conversations. "That ..." he started, "that actually makes a lot of sense."

               Elisa's brows furrowed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

               The corners of Callum's lips twitched upwards. "Nothing," he said.

               Elisa squinted. "Whatever," she muttered. "So, yeah, Dionysus claimed me, I moved into Cabin Twelve, and ..." Her voice faded away slowly. She shrugged, saying, "I don't what else to tell you."

               "Well," said Callum, shifting in his stool. "What about siblings? Make any friends?"

               "I have two siblings," said Elisa. "Castor and Pollux Winward; they're twins. Friends?" she repeated. Elisa looked around the office, truly wondering if she had any friends at Camp Half-Blood.

               "There's Grover," she said. "He's a satyr, really nice, too—I guess he's a bit of coward, but he has a good heart."

               Callum's eyebrows started to furrow. "Most satyrs only talk to half-bloods they are sent out to find ..."

               "Grover was assigned to show me around camp," said Elisa. She wasn't exactly lying; Grover had shown her some things as he walked her to Cabin Twelve. "That's how I met him."

               She laid her hands on the desk, placing her weight upon them. "I talked to some other people—Katie, daughter of Demeter, there was Alice Miyazawa, daughter of Hermes. I went to your old cabin! The Head Counselor's Silena Beauregard."

               Callum's eyes brightened with excitement. "Silena?" he asked.

               "Yeah, Drew said she knew you while you were still at camp," said Elisa.

               Callum nodded. "She just arrived while I was Head Counselor, she was, like, ten, maybe eleven. She's really sweet, I like that she's Head Counselor."

               "Do you miss living at Camp?" Elisa asked out of curiosity. It was a question she had ever since she learned of the son of Aphrodite's departure from the sanctuary. Part of her was surprised that any demigods could ever live long enough to move away from Camp Half-Blood. Even now, as her fourteen-year-old self, she was surprised Callum survived.

               Callum shrugged half-heartedly. "I miss the companionship of it all. Everywhere you looked, there were people like you around. It made me feel not so out-of-place."

               Elisa stayed silent, chewing on the bottom of her lips. She took her right hand off the desk, fixing the top of a stack of papers. "I just thought ... I thought I could've visited when this school year ends, but I don't think that's allowed. As far as I'm aware, people only leave when there's a quest."

               "You're right," said Callum. "People are allowed to leave only on quests—but you left on the back of a pegasus."

               The feeling of her heart dropping to her stomach shook Elisa out of any stupor she could have been in. She blinked at Callum dimly. "What?" she asked.

               "You think Chiron didn't tell me?" Callum asked. He didn't seem so pleased with himself for catching Elisa by surprise as he did furious with Elisa. "As the closest thing to mortal family you have?"

               Elisa closed her eyes, fighting back the urge to start crying. She hung her head—out of shame or to hide any tears that managed to squeeze their way out.

               "I had to, okay?" she said lamely.

               "You were gonna keep lying to me?" asked Callum. "Until I called you on your bluff? Part of me thought to just keep up with the antics, to see how long you kept it going."

               "I went for family, Callum," said Elisa. "I went for Bianca and Nico. If your siblings were going on a quest where two were destined to die, you'd go—no questions asked."

               Callum didn't look mad—he never really looked furious with her. "You're right," he said softly.

               "Then, you can't be mad," said Elisa.

               "No," argued Callum, "I can be. You still went on a quest where two were destined to die, that was dumb of you."

               Elisa picked at the dead skin on her bottom lip. "Maybe," she admitted. "But I just ... Did Chiron tell you everything?"

               "Why do you mean by everything?" the son of Aphrodite asked.

               "I'm wondering if he knows everything," said Elisa. "Like, I know he knows about me and Percy leaving camp, and probably what happened on the quest, but I want to know if he knows what happened before I got to camp."

               Callum shook his head. "He didn't tell me anything besides Dionysus was your dad and you ran away on that quest."

               She told Percy, and he didn't judge her—as far as Elisa was aware, anyway. Percy didn't yell at her and berate her. And Elisa liked to think that she was a lot closer to Callum than she was to Percy.

               Elisa told Callum everything. From the moment she left his presence and to the very moment that she made it back to Camp Half-Blood after the winter solstice. It was hard to recall it all, to relive all the pain and misery she had gone through before, but she knew it was the step forward to fixing it all to the best of her abilities.

               Guilt ate away at Elisa's soul from the moment she was attacked by Maurelle, the remorse only growing the moment she agreed to be a ploy to Kronos and Luke. She felt responsible for it all, a feeling and burden she never wished upon anyone, not even Luke himself.

               It was means of survival. Elisa knew that, but yet, blame rang in her ears like a clock striking noon. With each ring, a sense of sanity was chipped away. It was suffocating, and it felt like no matter what Elisa did, she could never pull herself out of the lake of sorrows she had found herself in.

               Callum picked up his long-forgotten coffee mug. "I should've gone with you ..." he murmured. "I knew it was a bad idea to let you go alone ..."

               Elisa stayed quiet. For a long time, she would've wholeheartedly agreed with Callum, and some part of her still did agree. But gods know where they would have been, or maybe Elisa would have made it to Camp Half-Blood earlier. However, that meant Elisa never would have truly gotten to know Bianca or Nico. Gods know what kind of person Elisa would be.

               "What is done is done," said Elisa, shrugging. "I mean—I got through it."

               "At what cost, thought." Callum rubbed at the new crease between his eyebrows.

               "You're gonna give yourself wrinkles if you do that," said Elisa, trying to make some sort of joke.

               "I'll get Botox," snapped Callum. "I'm coming to camp—I need to talk to Chiron."

               "Come to Camp?" Elisa repeated. "But you have your bakery!"

               "I need a winter vacation, anyway," said Callum. He stood up, dumping the remainder of his coffee in a giant, metal sink behind him. "We need to talk face to face."

               "Callum, I told you everything," said Elisa. "What else can we talk about?"

               The son of Aphrodite was brushing off his shirt. "I can apologize," he murmured. "Try and do something ... anything ..."

               Callum lunged for something on the counter outside of Elisa's view. "Look, Elisa, I got to go! I need to talk to Chiron. Love you! Talk to you lat—"

               He waved his hand through the mist, severing their connection without finishing his sentence. Elisa stared at where Callum had once been, her jaw hanging down slightly.

               She leaned off the desk, placing the prism where it had once been. Elisa left Chiron's office the way it had been before she arrived.

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It was the view outside of the Big House that caught Elisa's eyes. After she had left Chiron's office, she made her way to the front of the building that was painted blue. She was hanging halfway out of the door when four figures emerged from the ground.

               Her blood felt like it came to a standstill. She knew all too well what those figures looked like. There were four skeleton warriors against two half-bloods.

               Elisa didn't think twice before breaking out into a run. The cold bit at her face as she ran across Camp Half-Blood's snowy grounds. Acantha grew into her hand, casting a golden glow onto the white snow beneath her feet.

               As she ran closer, Elisa got a better look at the demigods. At the dining pavilion stood Percy and Nico. Percy looked panicked while Nico was definitely on the offense; arms folded and a furious, heartbroken look written all over his face.

               "Hey!" Elisa said loudly.

               The skeleton warriors turned to her. Nico stumbled over to her, grabbing her tightly by the arm.

               "He's trying to kill me," he screamed. "Percy is! He brought these ... these things?"

               "No!" Percy insisted! "I mean, yes, they followed me, but no! Nico run. They can't be destroyed."

               Nico glared at the son of Poseidon. He pulled Elisa away with him. "I don't trust you!" he clamored.

               Elisa grabbed Nico by the back of his shirt. She jerked him behind her, holding Acantha out to the skeleton warriors. One skeleton each charged for Percy and Elisa. Elisa twisted Acantha to spin between the skeleton's boney chest and arm. The spear flew upwards, severing the connection of the joint. The arm unknitted while the sword flew through the air. Percy managed to disarm his opponent.

               Elisa took the chance to look back at the boy behind her. "Nico, go get help!"

               "No! I'm not leaving you with him! He's trying to—!"

               "Run, Nico!" yelled Percy. "Get help!"

               "No!" He pressed his hands to his ears. "No!" he shouted louder. "Go away!'

               The ground rumbled beneath Elisa. The skeletons froze. She froze, and so did Percy. She jumped out of the way just as a crack opened at the feet of the four warriors. The ground ripped apart like a snapping mouth. Flames erupted from the fissure, and the earth swallowed the skeleton with one deafening CRUNCH!

               However, the silence that followed was somehow more resounding. Elisa looked at Percy, who was lying on his stomach, on the other side of the long jagged scar.

               In the place of the skeletons was a twenty-foot-long scar that wove across the marble floor of the dining pavilion. Besides such a horrific blotch, there was no other evidence of skeleton warriors ever being on Camp Half-Blood soil.

               Elisa looked at Nico with wide eyes. "How did you—?"

               But Nico scrambled off the floor, pointing a pale finger at Percy. "Go away!" he yelled. "I hate you! I wish you were dead!"

               However, the ground never opened a second fissure to follow Nico's command.

               Elisa stood up after him, grabbing Nico by the shoulders. "Nico, what is wrong?"

               "Bianca's dead, Elisa!" Nico wailed. "It's all Percy's fault! He promised to keep her alive!"

               The iron-like grip Elisa had loosened just enough for Nico to slip out of her hold. He ran down the steps, heading for the dark woods all around them. Elisa ran after him, intending to stop him, to try and bring him back to reason, when she slipped on the icy steps. Percy saved Elisa from the fall, grabbing her by the upper arms.

               With a jerky breath, Elisa watched as Nico disappeared into the woods. It felt like she was swallowing a mouthful of sandpaper.

               "You fucking told him ... You told him Bianca was dead—something I should have done! You always do this, because you always have to be the fucking hero! Why in the gods' name would you ever think—?"

               "Elisa," Percy said, ignoring the insults that flew out of her mouth, "do you have that statue?"

               "Why the fuck does that stupid figurine matter?" Elisa hissed.

               "Do you have it or not?"

               With a shaky hand, Elisa ripped it out of her back pocket, throwing it at Percy's chest. Percy caught the figurine after it bounced off his chest, he turned it over so he could see the face. Somehow, his face paled in the moonlight.

               Percy looked up at her, ignoring the tears in her eyes. "Elisa, his dad ... Hades ..."

               She blundered for a moment. "How the hell did you come up with that?" she demanded.

               "When I was telling Nico that Bianca was dead, he said he could feel it. He said that she was in Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now."

               Elisa swallowed another mouthful of sandpaper. "That's why they were in that hotel—the one that kept them frozen in time—if they—he is a son of Hades."

               Percy gave the dark figurine back to Elisa. She turned it over, looking at the face painted on it. It certainly fits the bill of what she figured the Lord of the Dead would look like.

               "We have to find him," said Elisa quickly, stuffing the statue into her back pocket.

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Percy insisted that they get only Annabeth and Grover to help. As reluctant as Elisa was, she went along with it. They searched the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico.

               "We have to tell Chiron," said Annabeth, out of breath.

               "No." Percy shook his head.

               She and Grover both stared at him.

               "Um," the satyr said nervously, "what do you mean ... no?"

               "We can't let anyone know. I don't think anyone realizes that Nico is a—"

               "A son of Hades," said Annabeth. "Percy, do you have any idea how serious this is? Even Hades broke the oath! This is horrible!"

               "I don't think Hades broke this oath," Elisa spoke up.

               Annabeth's grey eyes turned to her. "What?"

               "Hades didn't break whatever oath the Big Three have," Elisa said. "Castor told me the oath was made after World War II, so I think they've been in that Lotus Hotel since right after the oath. I mean, Bianca said the preside that was after Bush was F.D.R. He stopped being president in 1945."

               Annabeth looked at Grover and Percy, who both nodded at Elisa's explanation.

               "But how did they get out?" the blonde asked.

               "I don't know," Percy admitted. "Bianca said a lawyer came and got them and drove them to Westover Hall. I don't know who that could've been, or why. Maybe it's part of this Great Stirring thing. I don't think Nico understands who he is. But we can't go telling anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out—"

               "It might start them fighting among each other again," said Annabeth. "That's the last thing we need."

               Grover looked worried. "But you can't hide things from the gods. Not forever."

               "I don't need forever," said Percy. "Just two years. Until I'm sixteen."

               Annabeth paled. "But, Percy, this means the prophecy might not be about you. It might be about Nico. We have to—"

               "No," Percy said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me."

               "Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"

               "I can't let Nico be in any more danger," said Percy. "I owe that much to his sister and ..." He gave Elisa a small glance. "I let them down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer anymore."

               "That poor kid who hates you and wants to see you dead," Grover reminded Percy.

               "No matter what your intentions are," said Elisa, giving the satyr a cold glare for the description of Nico, "gods know what could find him if he's made it out of Camp Half-Blood's borders."

               It wasn't Elisa's intention to make Percy feel more guilty, it was just a side effect of her being honest.

               "Maybe we can find him," said Percy. "We can convince him it's okay, hide him someplace safe."

               Annabeth shivered. "If Luke gets hold of him—"

               "Luke won't," the son of Poseidon insisted. "I'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. Namely, me."

               As they were leaving the forest, Elisa stopped Percy. "Annabeth is talking about Luke like he's—"

               "Alive," said Percy grimly. "He is, because of Kronos."

               "Great."

               Percy stuffed his hands into the back pockets of his bloody jeans. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should have waited to let you tell Nico."

               Elisa sniffled and both acted like it was the cold making her nose runny. "I doubt he would have reacted differently because I told him. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

               "Do you think we should tell Chiron?"

               She shrugged. "No matter what we do, it's gonna blow back up in our face somehow."

               That was true. If they told Chiron, just like Annabeth wanted, the gods would start fighting, the very last thing they needed with Kronos rising. But if they kept it all a secret, which is what they were trying to do, the gods could somehow find out and then the four would face the wrath of every Olympian.

               It was all a chain of events. No matter what they did, something would go wrong one way or another.

               In the end, Nico could be found by Kronos and twisted to do the Titan's bidding. No matter if they told Chiron or not, that would spell disaster for them all.

               "You guys kept talking about this prophecy," said Elisa, "what are you guys talking about?"

               Percy licked his lips. "I don't know much, to be honest. Nobody will tell me anything, they always say it's better if I don't know. But ... the gist, if a child of the Big Three makes it to sixteen basically decides the fate of the Olympians."

               Elisa raised her eyebrows. "That sounds ..."

               "Horrible?" Percy offered.

               "I was gonna say lovely, but that works, too."

               Percy tried to smile at Elisa's dry sense of humor. "Chiron said that when the Titan war—the one that will happen when I turn sixteen—that Kronos will make his first attack on Camp Half-Blood."

               "To incapacitate us?" Elisa asked.

               "Something to the effect," said Percy. "He said it was because the gods use us—heroes—as tools. So if you get rid of the tools ..."

               "The gods have lost their most valuable line of defense," Elisa caught on.

               Percy nodded.

               "That's lovely," said Elisa. "But it just means we'll have to be ready. We have two years to prepare. I may be able to provide some insight into how Kronos and Luke prepare stuff. It may not be the most reliable, but it's better than nothing."

               Percy's eyes widened. "You think Chiron knows you joined them?"

               "I think Dionysus knows, at least. Chiron may know, too," said Elisa. "But ... if it'll help to defeat Kronos, I'll tell him everything I know."

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Elisa wasn't sure how much Chiron believed the tale Annabeth spun for him. She was sure the centaur could tell that not everything was being shared about Nico's disappearance. In the end, he accepted it.

               "So young," Chiron sighed, his hands on the rail of the front porch. "Alas, I hope he was eaten by monsters. Much better than being recruited into the Titans' army."

               Elisa's stomach churned at either fate Chiron suggested as a possibility.

               "You really think the first attack will be here?" Percy asked, to change the topic to something just as heavy-hearted.

               Chiron stared at the snow falling on the hills. Elisa could see smoke from the dragon guardian at the pine tree, the glitter of the distant Fleece.

               "It will not be until summer, at least," Chiron said. This winter will be hard ... the hardest for many centuries. It's best that you go home to the city, Percy; try to keep your mind on school. And rest. You will need rest."

               Percy looked at Annabeth. "What about you?"

               Her face was flushed from the biting cold. "I'm going to try San Francisco after all. Maybe I can keep an eye on Mount Tam, make sure the Titans don't try anything else."

               "You'll send an Iris-message if anything goes wrong?"

               She nodded. "But I think Chiron's right. It won't be until the summer. Luke will need time to regain his strength."

               Percy looked at Elisa. "What are you doing? Are you gonna stay here?"

               Elisa shrugged. "Probably. Get actual, real training for once."

               "Keep in contact, then?" Percy said. "I'm starting to think we're becoming friends!"

               "The label 'friends' is being generous," Elisa said. "It's more of an 'I-tolerate-you' relationship."

               "I'll come and visit spring break or something," said Percy. "We could send letters—"

               "I'm dyslexic, you know," Elisa informed him.

               "So am I!" Percy lunged for a notebook and pen Chiron had left on the pinochle table. He turned to a new page, writing down an address. He ripped the page out, holding it out to Elisa.

               She grabbed the paper dully, folding it up. "Sure, Chico Pez, I'll make sure to write about every single boring detail of my day."

               Percy was about to respond when Grover came stumbling out of the Big House, tripping over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a specter.

               "He spoke!" the satyr cried.

               "Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"

               "I ... I was playing music in the parlor," Grover stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"

               "Who?" Annabeth demanded.

               "Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to ... I have to find a suitcase."

               "Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Percy. "What did he say?"

               Grover stared at Percy. "Just three words. He said, 'I await you ...'"

👑 SEPT. 8TH, 2022 / also feels all over the place??

but!! end of titan's curse!! i am very excited! and hyped!

super excited to write more of elisa and percy and to see how they develop over botl