ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter five

━━ THE ONLY ONE who seemed happy about the sleeping city was Mrs. O'Leary. If Elisa could find any positives to the situation ( besides, well, still being alive ), she figured with every mortal sleeping, the less she had to worry about any mortals accidentally seeing the hellhound for what she truly was; a hellhound.

They found Mrs. O'Leary pigging out at an overturned hot dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking on his thumb.

Argus was waiting for them with his hundred eyes wide open. He didn't say anything. He never did. Elisa guessed that was because he supposedly has an eyeball on his tongue. But his face made it clear he was freaking out.

Percy told him what the demigods had learned in Olympus, and how the gods would not be riding to the rescue. Argus rolled his eyes in disgust, which looked pretty psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl.

"You'd better get back to Camp," Percy told him. "Guard it as best you can."

He pointed at the son of Poseidon and raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"I'm staying," the boy said.

Argus nodded, like this answer satisfied him. He looked at Annabeth and Elisa and drew a circle in the air with his finger.

"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "I think it's time."

Percy looked between the three, glancing at each of them for an answer. "For what?"

Argus rummaged around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much a standard issue—the same kind of round shield they always used in Capture the Flag. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty—which wasn't anywhere close to them.

"Whoa!" Percy gasped. "A video shield."

"One of Daedalus's ideas," Annabeth said. "I had Beckendorf make this before—" She glanced at Silena. "Um, anyway, the shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."

Everyone crowded around as Annabeth concentrated. The image zoomed and spun at first, so Elisa got motion sickness just watching it. They were in the Central Park Zoo, then zooming down East Sixtieth past Bloomingdale's, then turning on Third Avenue.

"Whoa," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there."

"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?"

"No, right there—Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like an exasperated mother. "This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"

"Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed.

Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park.

"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said. "Thank you, Argus. Hopefully, we'll see you back at Camp ... someday."

Argus grunted. He gave them a look that clearly meant "good luck—you'll need it", then climbed into his van. He and two harpies ( who had been flying overhead, following the vans into New York ) swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road.

Percy whistled for Mrs. O'Leary and she came bounding over.

"Hey, girl," he said. "You remember Grover? The satyr we met in the park?"

Mrs. O'Leary barked loudly. Elisa hoped that was a yes.

"I need you to find him," Percy said. "Make sure he's still awake. We're going to need his help. You got that? Find Grover!"

Mrs. O'Leary gave the boy a sloppy wet kiss. Then she raced off north.

Pollux crouched next to a sleeping policeman. "I don't get it," he murmured. "Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"

"This is a huge spell," Silena Beauregard said. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."

Elisa stared at her. "How do you know so much about magic?"

Silena blushed. "You should know me better than that, Elisa. I don't spend all my time perfecting my wardrobe."

"Percy, Elisa," Annabeth called. She was still looking at the shield. "You guys better see this."

The bronze image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speedboats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. Elisa had seen that design before, sprawled across every room of their base: the battle flag of Kronos.

"Scan the perimeter of the island," Percy said. "Quick."

Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals. At first, Elisa thought they were dolphins. Then she saw their doglike faces and the swords strapped to their waists, and she realized they were telkhines.

Gods, she hated telkhines. They were ugly, annoying, and smelled like wet dog.

The scene shifted again—the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic—giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons and, just to prove their man-power, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.

"What's happening with the mortals outside Manhattan?" Percy said. "Is the whole state asleep?"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's, like, a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."

She showed Percy and Elisa another scene—a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked awake, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.

"Kronos," Elisa gasped. "He's slowing time."

"Hecate might be helping," Katie added, glancing nervously at the daughter of madness. The two of them had never talked about their spat during the war council. "Look how the cars are all veering away from the Manhattan exits, like they're getting a subconscious message to turn back."

"I don't know." Annabeth sounded really frustrated. She hated not knowing. "But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic. The outside world might not even realize something is wrong. Any mortals coming towards Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."

"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured.

Annabeth nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help coming in."

Everyone around Elisa looked stunned and scared. And she was, too. The shield had shown them at least three hundred enemies on the way. There were forty of them. And they were alone.

"All right," Percy said. "We're going to hold Manhattan."

Silena tugged at her armor. "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."

"We are going to hold it," the boy insisted. "We have to."

Elisa sighed. "He's right. The wind gods should keep Kronos's forces away from Olympus via air, so he'll have to make a ground assault. The best way to stop a ground assault is to block off their entrances to Manhattan."

Annabeth took a second to glance at the black-haired girl, grinning. "You sound like a true strategist just now."

"Well, hearing you babble on and on, I was bound to pick up something." Elisa rolled her eyes.

"They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out.

Percy's expression changed from confusion to confidence in a matter of seconds. "I'll take care of the boats," he promised.

Michael frowned. "How?"

"Just leave it to me," said the son of the sea. "We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first try. That would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnel. Do whatever you have to do—but keep them out of there! Connor—take half of Hermes cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping for looting or pillaging!"

The Hermes Cabin complained unanimously.

"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. Cabin Twelve, you go with them."

Castor nodded and took Pollux and Elisa to stand next to Silena.

"Oh, my gods," one of Silena's sisters said. "Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters, like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."

"No delays," Percy said. "Well ... the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."

Percy closed his eyes, as if racking his brain for anything else. "The Holland Tunnel. Jake—take Hephaestus Cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got."

The son of Hephaestus grinned. "Gladly. We've got a score to settle. For Beckendorf!"

The whole cabin roared in approval.

"The Fifty-ninth Street Bridge," Percy said. "Clarisse—"

He faltered. Clarisse wasn't here. The whole Ares Cabin, curse them, was sitting back at camp.

"We'll take that." Annabeth stepped in, saving Percy from an embarrassing silence. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take Athena Cabin and activate plan twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."

"You got it."

"Elisa—" the blonde pointed at her, "I want you to come with me and Percy," Annabeth said. "Then we'll join you—or we'll go wherever we're needed."

Drew, who was standing next to the daughter of madness, whispered, "You and Percy can't make any detours, you know."

Elisa scowled at the daughter of love, showing the girl her middle finger. "Suck a dick," she said, louder than she meant to be.

Percy watched the two, looking as if he was deciding whether Elisa and Drew were foes rather than friends. "... All right," he said, shaking his head at the interaction. "Keep in touch with cell phones."

"We don't have cell phones," Silena protested.

Percy reached down, picked up some snoring lady's BlackBerry, and tossed it to Silena. "You do now. You all know Annabeth's number, right? If you need us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."

Everyone grinned like they liked this idea.

Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone—?"

"No, you can't keep it," Elisa said, giving the son of Hermes an annoyed look.

Travis grumbled under his breath about Elisa being a 'stick-in-the-mud.'

"Hold it, Percy," Jake Mason said. "You forgot the Lincoln Tunnel."

Percy cursed under his breath, but Jake was right. A Sherman tank and a hundred monsters were marching through that tunnel right now, and the boy had positioned their forces everywhere else.

Then a girl's voice called from across the street: "How about you leave that to us?"

Elisa had never been happier to hear anyone in her life. A band of thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants, and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs, and bows at the ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.

The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess's tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.

The daughter of Zeus grinned, raising her hand in some mock fashion of a military salute. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."

There were hugs and greetings all around—or, at least, on Thalia's end. She was the only Hunter who was friendly to boys. The other Hunters didn't exactly like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot anyone, which for some of them was a pretty warm welcome.

"Where have you been the last year?" Percy asked Thalia. "You've got, like, twice as many Hunters now!"

She laughed. "Long, long story. I bet my adventures were more dangerous than yours, Jackson."

The son of Poseidon scoffed. "Complete lie."

"We'll see," Thalia said, shrugging casually. "After this is over, you, Annabeth, Elisa, and me: cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on West Fifty-sixth."

"Le Parker Meridien," Percy said. "You're on. And, Thalia—thanks."

She shrugged. "Those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"

She slapped her silver bracelet and the shield Aegis spiraled into full form. The golden head of Medusa molded in the center was so horrible the campers all backed away. The Hunters took off down the avenue, followed by their wolves and falcons, and Elisa had a feeling the Lincoln Tunnel would be safe for now

"Thank the gods," Annabeth said. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."

"You're right," Percy said.

Elisa looked at the campers, all of them grim and determined. She tried not to feel like this was the last time she would ever see them all together. She swallowed the bile gathering in her throat, the heavy feeling of anxiety whirling around her stomach.

"You're all the greatest heroes of this millennium," Percy spoke up loudly to the group, slinging an arm over Elisa's shoulder. "It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win."

With his other hand, he raised Riptide and shouted, "For Olympus!"

All forty campers shouted in response, and their voices echoed off the buildings of midtown. For a moment, it sounded brave, but it died quickly in the silence of ten million sleeping New Yorkers.

ˋˏ [ 👑 ] ˎˊ

Elisa, Annabeth, and Percy would've had their pick of cars, but they were all wedged in bumper-to-bumper traffic. None of the engines were running, which was weird. It seemed the drivers had had time to turn off the ignition before they got too sleepy. Or maybe Morpheus had the power to put engines to sleep as well. Most of the drivers had apparently tried to pull to the curb when they felt themselves passing out, but still the streets were too clogged to navigate.

"Aw, hell yeah!" Elisa said joyfully, peering down at a car nearby.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Look at this!" she said excitedly, yanking open a car door. "Someone left this car unattended." The daughter of Dionysus rummaged through the car, pulling out a set of car keys. "And they were stupid enough to leave their spare key in here, too."

"Elisa, we're not stealing a car," Annabeth said, crossing her arms. "None of us know how to drive."

"Actually, Elisa does know how to drive," Percy pointed out. "Not legally, though."

Elisa frowned at him, propping an arm on the car door. "What are you talking about?"

"A couple winters ago you said you knew how to drive just not legally," said Percy. "Remember? We were trying to get on that quest to save Annabeth and Artemis."

"Oh," said Elisa. Soon, she shrugged. "It's technically not legal for me to drive without an adult right now. I only have my permit. So it's still illegal."

She ducked inside, quickly starting the car. Annabeth rolled her eyes and sat in the passenger seat, leaving Percy in the backseat. Soon, the three were driving down Broadway, Elisa avoiding the cars that may have not gotten over all the way. The car engine was buzzing loudly through the eerie calmness, and it was clearly unnerving the three. The only sounds were occasional cell phones ringing—like they calling out to each other, as if New York had turned into a giant electronic aviary.

Their progress was slow. Every so often they'd come across pedestrians who'd fallen asleep right in front of a car, and Annabeth or Percy would jump out to move them just to be safe. Once they stopped to extinguish a pretzel vendor's cart that had caught on fire. A few minutes later they had to rescue a baby carriage that was rolling aimlessly down the street. It turned out there was no baby in it—just somebody's sleeping poodle. Go figure; rich people did the weirdest things. Percy parked it safely in a doorway and kept on moving.

Elisa was passing Madison Square Park when Annabeth said: "Pull over."

Elisa stopped in the middle of East Twenty-third. Annabeth jumped off and ran towards the park. By the time, Percy and Elisa caught up with the blonde, she was staring at a bronze statue on a red marble pedestal.

The statue was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. He wore an old-fashioned suit—Abraham Lincoln style—with a bowtie and long coat-tails and stuff. A bunch of bronze books were piled under his chair. He held a writing quill in one hand and a big metal sheet of parchment in the other.

"Why do we care about ...?" Percy squinted at the name on the pedestal. "William H. Steward?"

"Seward," Annabeth corrected. "He was a New York governor. Minor demigod—Son of Hebe, I think. But that's not important. It's the statue I care about."

She climbed on a park bench and examined the base of the statue.

Elisa raised her eyebrows. "Don't tell me—the statue's an automaton."

Annabeth smiled. "Turns out most of the statues in the city are automatons. Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."

"Were all these automatons made to attack Olympus or defend it, though?" Elisa posed a good question.

The daughter of Athena shrugged. "Either one. That was plan twenty-three. He could activate one statue and it would start activating its brethren all over the city, until there was an army. It's dangerous, though. You guys know how unpredictable automatons are."

"Uh-huh," said Percy. All three of them had their share of bad experiences with them. "You're seriously thinking about activating it?"

"I have Daedalus's notes," Annabeth said. "I think I can ... Ah, here we go."

She pressed the tip of Seward's boot and the statue stood up, its quill and paper ready.

"What's he going to do?" Percy muttered. "Take a memo?"

Annabeth shushed him, quickly turning to the statue. "Hello, William."

"Bill," Percy suggested.

"Maybe he prefers Will instead," offered Elisa. "Or Willie."

"Bill—Will—oh, shut the hell up," Annabeth snapped at the two. The statue tilted its head, looking at the three with blank metal eyes.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Hello, er, Governor Seward. Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Defend Manhattan. Begin Activation."

Seward jumped off his pedestal. He hit the ground so hard his shoes cracked the sidewalk. Then he went clanking off towards the east.

"He's probably going to wake up Confucius," Annabeth guessed.

"What?" Percy said.

"Another statue on Division. The point is, they'll keep waking each other up until they're all activated."

"And then?"

"Hopefully, they defend Manhattan."

"Do they know that we're not the enemy?"

Annabeth watched the automation walk away, looking nervous. "I think so."

"Oh," said Elisa, "that's reassuring."

Then a ball of green light exploded in the evening sky—Greek fire, somewhere over the East River.

"We have to hurry," Percy said. And the three ran for the stolen car.

ˋˏ [ 👑 ] ˎˊ

Elisa pulled the car over outside Battery Park, at the lower tip of Manhattan where the Hudson and East Rivers came together and emptied into the Bay.

"Wait here," Percy told Annabeth and Elisa, starting to get out of the car.

Elisa frowned at him again. "You shouldn't go alone," she said.

"Well, unless you can breathe underwater ..." The son of Poseidon glanced at the rivers.

She rolled her eyes. 'Whatever."

"Is that your way of admitting I'm right?" Percy teased. "Trust me, I'll be fine. I've got the curse of Achilles now. I'm all invincible and stuff."

Elisa looked like she wanted to avoid the topic of the curse of Achilles. "Just be careful," she told him. "I don't want anything to happen to you." Her eyes widened. "Because we need you for the battle."

Percy grinned. "Back in a flash."

He clambered down the shoreline and waded into the water. Annabeth watched the churring water until it was impossible to see the boy anymore ( which wasn't very long considering just how dirty the water was ).

"'Because we need you for the war?'" the blonde said, grinning at Elisa.

The daughter of Dionysus scowled. "Fuck off."

Annabeth's grin widened. "I can't believe you said that! I mean, you might as well have said 'I like you.'"

"Need I remind you that I am the one driving so I have say in whether or not I can kick your ass out and make you walk back to Olympus," Elisa said, pointing to the car keys to prove her point.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "You're not gonna do that."

Elisa curled her lips. "I can't wait for the day you get a crush," she said. "Just so you know, payback's a bitch."

Annabeth snorted, digging out her phone, which had started to ring loudly. She shook her head at Elisa, answering with a, "Hello?"

Elisa couldn't hear what was being said but she recognized the worried expression forming on Annabeth's face. "Yeah, yeah. Of course," she said. "We'll be there as soon as possible."

"What is it?" asked Elisa quietly.

Annabeth held up a finger, in a 'Wait a moment' manner. "Look, Michael—hold 'em off for as long as you can. Elisa, Percy, and I will get there as soon as Percy's done." She gave one last 'Uh-huh' before hanging up.

Elisa caught sight of Percy leaving the rivers. "What is it?" she asked Annabeth.

Annabeth rolled down the window on her side, yelling out to Percy, "Hurry up!"

The daughter of madness gave her an offended look. "Are you going to answer me or not?"

"Get the car ready to go," said Annabeth. "We need to hurry."

Percy jogged up to the car, sliding into the backseat. "My idea worked; the rivers are safe. So—what's up with you?" He peered at Annabeth.

The blonde took a shaky breath. "We've got more problems. Michael Yew just called. Another army is marching over the Williamsburg Bridge. The Apollo cabin needs help. And ... the monster leading the enemy ... it's the Minotaur."

👑  MAR. 4TH, 2023  /  this chapter was going to be longer and then i realized what scenes were coming up and said no way

do with that information what you wish

i'm also having a dilemma about whether or not to do an interlude for elisa's birthday (march 8th) and i'm kinda tempted not to but i want to know if you guys think i should

anyways,, thoughts?? opinions??