ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter eleven

━━ ELISA AND PERCY tore across the Mall, never once daring to look behind them once. They burst into the Air and Space Museum, skidding to a stop after the admissions area.

Elisa looked around the museum, bent over at the waist, her hands on her knees to try and catch her breath. The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.

"What were those things?" she asked, pushing back the bangs that had fallen in her eyes.

Percy looked at Elisa. "Why didn't you stay back?"

"Answer my question first."

Percy swallowed, looking at the families around them. "Skeleton warriors. That's the best way I can describe them, at least. But they were growing flesh—just dull grey flesh."

"How many?" Elisa asked. "That guy was holding a lot of teeth."

"Twelve," said Percy. He looked around once before he started walking. "We have to warn Grover and Thalia."

The two hurried around the museum, looking for any sign of the four quest members. But at the slightest sound of something they didn't know what it could be, the two broke into a run. That meant Percy ran into Thalia—literally. He was running in front of Elisa up the ramp to the top-floor balcony when he slammed into the daughter of Zeus. Thalia hit her back against the Apollo space capsule right beside her.

Grover yelped in surprise at the sight of Elisa and Percy.

Zoë and Bianca pulled out silver bows as a way of greeting the two. The Hunters had arrows notched, aimed at Percy and Elisa before either could say a word.

Bianca's jaw dropped. "Elisa?" she asked. "What are you doing here? You—you shouldn't be here!"

Once Zoë figured out who the two were, her bow didn't lower. "You!" she spat at Percy. "How dare you show thy face here?"

"Percy!" Grover brayed. "Elisa! Thank goodness."

Zoë glared at the satyr, and he blushed. "I mean, um, gosh. You two are not supposed to be here!"

"Luke," Percy said, still trying to catch his breath. "He's here."

All the anger that had been on Thalia's face melted away. She put her hand on the silver bracelet strapped to her wrist. "Where?" she asked.

Percy and Elisa told them about what they had witnessed in the Natural History Museum.

"The General is here?" Zoë looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would we lie about something like this?" Elisa demanded. "There isn't time for you to throw a fit about us being here. There are these skeleton warriors things after—"

"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many, Elisa?"

The daughter of Dionysus looked over her shoulder. "Percy told me twelve."

"That isn't all," Percy spoke up. "That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster."

Thalia and Grover exchanged looks.

"We were following Artemis's trail," Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent ... She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

Bianca glanced at Zoë, saying nervously, "Zoë, if it is the General—"

"It cannot be!" Zoë snapped. "The two must have seen an Iris Message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," Percy said.

Zoë took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Elisa didn't know why Zoë was taking the news so hard, or how she knew the General man, but she knew it wasn't the time to ask.

"If Elisa and Percy are telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," Zoë said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible ... We must leave now."

"Good idea," Percy agreed.

Zoë glared at him. "I was not including thee, boy," she said. "You are not part of this quest. And neither is thee!" She pointed a finger at Elisa.

"Are you kidding?" Elisa demanded. "We warning you about some 'playmate', and you care about that?"

Thalia's face was grim. "You shouldn't have come here, Percy, and you shouldn't have brought Elisa with you ... But you're here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van."

"He didn't bring me anywhere," Elisa said, shoving a finger in Percy's direction.

"It was Elisa's idea to come!" Percy said.

"No!" she disagreed, shaking her head. "It was my idea to come with you. You were going to go without me."

"Silence!" Zoë snapped. She turned to Thalia, practically shaking with silent rage. "That is not thy decision whether these two," she glared at Percy and Elisa, "join us."

Thalia scowled at Zoë. "You're not the boss here, Zoë. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little bitch!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoë growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

Thalia's eyes were blazing with anger. Elisa looked between the two, expecting one of them to throw a punch soon. But everyone froze when there was a growl; a growl so loud it could've been one of the rocket engines starting up.

Below the six, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice yelled with delight: "Kitty!"

Something enormous bounded up the ramp after them. It was the size of a pickup truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur. Elisa took a small step back, reaching for the golden thyrsus in her back pocket, but Percy stopped her with one look.

"The Nemean Lion," Thalia whispered. "Don't move."

The lion roared, pushing back Elisa's hair from her face. She flinched when droplets of the lion's spit landed on her face. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," said Zoë. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it," said Zoë. "Go!"

Elisa rolled to the left, grabbing Acantha as it transformed into a dory spear. She ducked under arrows that whizzed by. Grover was playing a sharp cadence on his reed pipes. Elisa looked over her shoulder to see Zoë and Bianca climbing the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, but all were shattering harmlessly against the lion's metallic fur. The lion swiped at the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the side. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped in the Nemean Lion's path, holding up Aegis, her shield, and the lion recoiled with a loud roar.

"Back!" Thalia snapped at the lion.

The Nemean Lion growled and clawed at the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire. But it seemed the lion was going to risk the shield, the monster started crouching, its leg muscles tensing. Elisa knew well enough to know it was going to leap for Thalia.

Elisa looked at Percy furiously as he yelled out, catching the lion's attention. She watched him charge for the monster, swing his sword for the lion's side, and as his sword bounced off the lion uselessly.

The lion leaped for Percy with claws out, ripping off a chunk of his coat. Elisa grabbed the hood of Percy's coat, pulling him to the railing behind her.

"Good going, Fish Boy," she hissed, watching the lion stalk for them. She raised Acantha, hoping to use it as some sort of make-shift shield from the beast.

Percy looked behind him. "Airplane," he muttered. "Jump."

Elisa looked at him from the corner of her eye. "No way," she said. "It won't hold us."

"It has to!" Percy yelled as he grabbed Elisa's coat sleeve to pull her along.

The two landed on the wing of an old-fashioned silver airplane as the lion leaped for the last spot the two were. Elisa stuck one end of Acantha into the metal as the airplane pitched to one side, she gripped the spear to keep herself from falling off.

An arrow whizzed past Percy's head as the lion landed on the aircraft after them. Elisa looked nervously at the cords keeping the airplane up; they were groaning from all the weight. The lion growled and steadied itself on the airplane.

Elisa jumped down to the next exhibit before the lion could make any moves closer to her. She landed on a weird-looking spacecraft with blades like a helicopter, Percy right behind her. She looked for the next place to land as Percy yelled, "Zoë! Target the lion's mouth!"

The monster lunged. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, Percy grabbed Elisa's arm and jumped onto the top of a floor exhibit, a huge model of the earth. Elisa slid down Russia and dropped off the equator after Percy.

The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth's North Pole.

"Grover!" Elisa yelled. "Get the mortals out of here!"

Groups of kids were running around, screaming for their parents. Grover tried to corral them away from the Nemean Lion just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Thalia dropped off the second-floor trailing and landed across from Elisa and Percy, on the other side of the globe. The Nemean Lion regarded the three, trying to decide which of them to kill first.

Zoë and Bianca were above them, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.

"No clear shot!" Zoë yelled to the half-bloods below her. "Get it to open its mouth more!"

The lion snarled from the top of the globe.

"Elisa, Thalia," Percy said, "keep it occupied."

Thalia nodded grimly as Elisa asked, "What are you doing?"

"Keep it distracted!" Percy yelled back to her as he took a running start for a gift shop.

Thalia let out a yell as she pointed her spear at the lion. A spider arch of blue electricity shot out, zapping the lion in the tail.

The lion whirled around and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay.

Zoë yelled to Percy, "This is no time for souvenirs, boy!"

Elisa swiped Acantha toward the Nemean Lion, knowing the spear wouldn't hurt the lion, only bother it. The end of Acantha hit the lion in the leg, making the lion turn around and pounce for her.

"Elisa!" Bianca yelled. An arrow whizzed by and clanged uselessly against the monster's back. "Be careful!"

Elisa backed away from the lion as Thalia got back to her feet. Elisa made a jab for the monster's eye. Thalia held up Aegis as Percy ran back over.

"Percy," Thalia called, "whatever you're going to do—"

The lion roared and swatted at Elisa like she was a cat toy. Elisa rolled backward, dodging underneath the gleaming silver talons. The Nemean Lion growled and rounded on Thalia. The daughter of Zeus hadn't been prepared for the attack made by the monster and slid across the floor and into the side of a Titan rocket. She hit her head on the metal and slid onto the floor.

"Hey!" Percy yelled. The gleam of a Celestial bronze sword passed by Elisa; Percy's sword, Riptide, was hurling toward the lion. He was running out of the gift shop, silver packets in his arms. The sword bounced off the lion's side, but it was just enough to get the monster's attention.

The Nemean Lion had turned back to Elisa, ready to make quick work of her for the attacks she made, but was distracted by Percy. The lion turned to the son of Poseidon, snapping and growling.

Percy kept running for the beast, and the beast charged for Percy. He grabbed one of the silver packets in his hand and chucked it into the lion's open mouth. The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball.

"Zoë," the son of Poseidon yelled back to the Hunter. "Get ready!"

Behind them, people were screaming. Grover was playing another horrible song on his reed pipes.

Percy scrambled away from the lion. It managed to choke down the silver packet and looked at him with pure hatred.

"Snack time!" he yelled, grabbing another packet.

The lion made the same mistake of roaring at Percy. He chucked the packet into the lion's mouth. Before the lion could stop gagging, he threw three more packets into the lion's throat. The Nemean Lion's eyes bulged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on its back paws, trying to get away from Percy.

"Now!" he yelled.

Immediately, arrows pitched the lion's maw—two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. Elisa stayed ready for it to pounce until the Nemean Lion's chest stopped moving. It was completely still.

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on.

Grover knelt at Thalia's side and helped her to her feet. She seemed fine, just dazed from the hits. Zoë and Bianca dropped from the balcony and landed next to Percy and Elisa.

Bianca was eyeing the dory spear in Elisa's hand. "Where'd you get that?"

Elisa turned Acantha back into the miniature thyrsus. "Dionysus. Where'd you get the magically appearing and disappearing bow?"

"It came with becoming a Hunter," Bianca told her.

Elisa pinched her lips together as she looked back at Zoë and Percy. "Yeah, I should've guessed that."

Zoë was eyeing Percy cautiously as if he had any more silver packets to try and choke her with. "That was ... an interesting strategy."

"Hey, it worked." The boy shrugged.

Zoë decided not to argue.

The Nemean Lion seemed to be melting into the floors of the museum, the way dead monsters do sometimes. It was an odd thing, Elisa thought, that some monsters did that and some didn't. The lion melted away until there was nothing left but its glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of a normal lion's pelt.

"Take it," Zoë said to Percy, motioning to the pelt.

Percy stared at it. "What? The lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal rights violation or something?"

"It is a spoil of war," Zoë corrected Percy. "It is rightly thine."

"You killed it," said Percy.

The Hunter shook her head, looking like there was a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "I think thy ice cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

He lifted it up, looking it over. The fur looked smooth and soft. As everyone watched, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat—a full-length golden-brown duster.

"Not exactly my style," he muttered. He glanced at Elisa, throwing the duster in her direction. "Have it," he told her.

Elisa caught the pelt, throwing a disgusted look Percy's way. "I don't want it," she said. "It's ugly."

"Your coat looks thin," said Percy. "Just take it."

"Your coat has stuffing falling out of it," said Elisa. "Take it back, Fish Boy."

Percy gave her a sarcastic smile. "How sweet, Grape Girl," he said, reaching for the pelt.

Elisa scowled, taking the duster back. "Nevermind, Chico Pez, go ahead and freeze to death."

Zoë scowled heavily. "I will take thy duster for myself if you two don't stop arguing!"

The daughter of Dionysus slung the duster over her shoulders, glaring at Zoë and Percy. Grover was leading Thalia over to them.

"We have to get out of here," said the satyr. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."

Elisa hadn't thought much of the guards not apprehending them, too preoccupied arguing with Percy to notice. But all the security guards were scrambling in all directions except for the six, like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into walls and each other.

"You did that?" Percy asked Grover.

Grover nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," said Zoë. "Look."

Through the glass walls of the museum, Elisa could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Grey men in grey camouflage outfits. They were too far away for Elisa to see their eyes, but she knew they were glaring at her.

"Go," said Percy. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."

"No," said Zoë. "We go together."

"Percy stared at her. "But you said—"

"You and Elisa are part of this quest now," Zoë said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You two are the fifth and sixth quest members. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

👑 JUNE 9TH, 2022 / shorter compared to other chapters but the next chapter will be longer so i had to do it this way

but if you didn't know elisa's fatal flaw, what would you think it would be??