ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter eleven

━━ ELISA WAS ALREADY out of the arena by the time Rachel yelled, "This way!"

"Why should we follow you?" Annabeth demanded. "You led us straight into that death trap!"

"It was the way you needed to go," Rachel said. "And so is this. Come on!"

The daughter of Athena didn't look happy about it, but she kept running after the redhead. Rachel seemed to know exactly where she was going. She whipped around corners and didn't even hesitate at crossroads. Once she said, "Duck!" and they all crouched as a huge axe swung over their heads. Then the five kept going as if nothing had happened.

Elisa had lost track of how many turns they had made. They didn't stop to rest until they came to a room the size of a gymnasium with old marble columns holding up the roof. The brunette listened anxiously with a racing heart for any sound of a trailing army, but there was no sound of roaring anger. Somewhere along the way, they had lost Luke and his minions in the maze.

She slammed her back against the walls of the maze, sliding down until her knees came into contact with her chest. Elisa took a couple of deep breaths, feeling like her lungs were starting to collapse in on themselves.

Ethan collapsed on the floor after Elisa. "You people are crazy." He pulled off his helmet. His face gleamed with sweat.

Annabeth gasped. "I remember you! You were one of the undetermined kids in Hermes cabin, years ago."

He glared at her. "Yeah, and you're Annabeth. I remember." Ethan turned a cold eye to Elisa, who was sitting opposite the corridor from him. "And you."

Elisa gritted her teeth, racking her mind for the thing to say that would make Ethan the angriest. "What happened to your eye, huh?"

The boy looked away, and Elisa got what she wanted; the topic of Ethan's eyes was one he did not want to discuss.

"You must be the half-blood from my dream," Percy said. "The one Luke's people cornered. It wasn't Nico after all."

"Who's Nico?"

"He's none of your business," snapped Elisa.

Annabeth gave the brunette a warning look. She said quickly to Ethan, "Why were you trying to join up with the wrong side?"

Ethan sneered. "There's no right side. The gods never cared about us. Why shouldn't I—"

"Sign up with an army that makes you fight to the death for entertainment?" Annabeth countered coldly. "Gee, I wonder."

Ethan struggled to his feet. "I'm not going to argue with you. Thanks for the help, but I'm out of here."

"We're going after Daedalus," Percy said suddenly. "Come with us. Once we get through, you'd be welcome back at Camp."

"You really are crazy if you think Daedalus will help you."

"He has to," Annabeth said. "We'll make him listen."

Ethan snorted, looking at Elisa. "I expected something like that from them. But you, I thought you'd be smarter than that."

Elisa's face was formidable. "No one ever said you were smart."

"What are you doing hanging around with a crowd like this?" Ethan asked, ignoring the insult to his character. His lips twitched—into a smile or sneer. "Or were the rumors really true? You caused Anders to go insa—"

"Unless you want to be swallowing your teeth, I suggest you shut the hell up!" Elisa stood up quickly, her knuckles ten shades lighter than the rest of her skin. Percy rushed forward, holding her back with his right arm. The brunette shoved past him but Percy pushed her back, extending both arms out to keep as much distance between Ethan and Elisa as possible.

Ethan's lips were drawn back into what could only be a smile. He had done exactly what he wanted to do; get under Elisa's skin. "I didn't even finish my sentence."

Percy ignored what the boy had said, going on to say, "You're just going to head off alone into the maze? That's suicide."

Ethan looked at Percy with bubbling anger. His eye patch was frayed around the edges and the black cloth was faded, like he'd been wearing it a long time. "You shouldn't have spared me, Jackson. Mercy has no place in this war."

"Way to be fucking dramatic," Elisa grumbled, shoving Percy's arm away. She stalked over to her previous spot, sitting with a grunt.

Ethan gave the daughter of madness a scalding look before he ran off into the darkness, back the way they had come.

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Elisa, Annabeth, Rachel, and Percy were so exhausted they made camp right there in the huge room. They found some scrap wood and managed to start a fire. Shadows danced off the columns that were rising around them like looming, dark trees.

"Something was wrong with Luke," Annabeth muttered, poking at the fire with her knife. "Did you notice the way he was acting?"

"Like a maniac?" Elisa raised an eyebrow.

The daughter of Athena glared at her.

"He looked pretty pleased to me," Percy said, watching the dancing fire. "Like he'd spent a nice day torturing heroes."

"That's not true! There was something wrong with him. He looked ... nervous. He told his monsters to spare me. He wanted to tell me something."

"Probably, 'Hi, Annabeth! Sit here with me and watch while I tear your friends apart. It'll be fun!'"

Elisa's lips twitched, making sure Percy couldn't see her smile at his ridiculousness. Annabeth was glaring at both demigods.

"You're impossible," she grumbled. She sheathed her dagger and looked at Rachel. "So which way now, Sacagawea?"

Rachel didn't respond right away. She'd become quieter since the arena. Now, when anyone but Percy talked to her, Rachel hardly bothered to answer. She'd burned the tip of a stick in the fire and was using it to draw ash figures on the floor, images of the monsters they'd seen. With a few strokes, she caught the likeness of a dracaena perfectly.

"We'll follow the path," she said. "The brightness on the floor."

"Oh, great," Elisa rolled her eyes with a grumble. "Let's follow the yellow brick road into another fucking trap."

"Lay off her, you guys," Percy said. "She's doing the best she can."

Elisa glared at him, standing up again. "Aren't we all?"

She wanted as far away from Percy as the maze could allow. Elisa knew what happened when she got too invested in dangerous emotions. She toed the line between control and losing it all; a feeling the daughter of madness abhorred. She never wanted to cause the damage she had in the Timenest Hotel again.

"The fire's getting low. I'm going to look for more scraps," she said over her shoulder, walking to the opposite side of the room.

Elisa walked around the edge of the room, fishing out sticks from the dark shadows of the room. She needed to get her emotions under check, she knew that, but it was getting a little hard with everything crumbling around her. She knew what had tipped her over the edge—Ethan's mention of Brian Anders, a name she never wanted to hear again.

After ten minutes of wasting time, Elisa walked back to the campsite. She tossed the sticks into the flames, looking at the other three stuck in the Labyrinth with her. Rachel looked to be asleep, tucked into her bedroll, her back looking purposely faced away from Percy. Annabeth was laid on her back, her arm draped over her eyes, her mouth slightly open as she snored in between deep breaths. Percy, however, was wide away, staring at Elisa. He sat close to the fire, his arms wrapped around his knees to keep them close to his chest.

"You go ahead and sleep," Elisa told him, sitting down on the hard ground. She didn't sit opposite Percy, but she certainly didn't sit next to him. "I'll take first watch."

"You don't have to act like that," he mumbled into his arm.

The girl raised her eyebrows at him. "Like what?" she said with a daring tone.

"Like ..." Percy let out a frustrated sigh, shifting so his body faced hers. Elisa's demeanor changed, she shifted nervously, glancing over to the dark corners of the room they were in. The son of the Sea God was looking at her in a way she wasn't used to, but it wasn't the way he looked at her before the St. Helens explosion. However, Elisa wasn't sure how he was looking at her.

"Like ... like the way you're acting." Percy seemed to be struggling for words.

"Good answer," Elisa told him sarcastically.

The boy glared at her. "Can you be serious? Ever?"

"Yeah, I can be. But maybe I just use sarcasm as a way to avoid my problem instead of lying my way through them." Elisa looked pointedly at Percy. "However, I'm good at sarcasm and you're horrible at lying."

Percy bristled. "What have I lied about?"

"Where you were for those two weeks, for a start," Elisa said, raising her eyebrows again. "And who you were with on that island, secondly. How you actually—"

"You want to talk about how you avoid talking about the kiss?"

The brunette pointed at herself. "I avoid it? We're not talking about me, here, we're talking about how you're a coward who couldn't man up and admit where he was."

"What was there to tell you, Elisa?"

"That you were on an island with a girl cursed to fall in love with you," spat Elisa. "And that you considered staying." Her voice broke in between the sentence; "And maybe while we're at it, we can mention the kiss—how neither of us are brave enough to talk about it."

The back of her eyes burned and it felt like her throat was closing in on itself. Elisa blinked rapidly, rubbing the palms of her hands over her eyes. Percy's anger deflated as quickly as it had risen.

"It feels like everything is falling apart, and I can do nothing about it," Elisa said as she rested her head against her palms. "This quest is going to shit and we're getting nowhere, Nico's missing and I can't do anything to help him. He could be dead for all I fucking know."

"He's not dead," Percy insisted.

"I made a promise to myself the day Bianca died to protect him," admitted Elisa, "because that's what family does—no questions asked."

"You're doing everything you can to help him," Percy said.

"Bianca had to send me dreams because I couldn't find Nico," Elisa pointed out.

"Because he was in the Labyrinth and we didn't know there was an entrance inside the camp."

"Whatever," Elisa mumbled, locking her arms over her chest. "Go to sleep, I'll take first watch."

Percy grabbed his sleeping bag, moving it so it was next to Elisa's. The girl watched him with unreadable eyes, but Percy had a feeling she wanted to move. He shifted in his bedroll, looking as if he was gathering his thoughts.

"What ... What was Ethan talking about when he mentioned someone named—?"

"Brian Anders," Elisa said, sounding cold. "He ..." She took a deep breath. "You remember when I told you I joined Luke because of Maurelle?"

"Yeah," Percy said slowly. "He is, like, a part of Kronos's army."

"Was," Elisa corrected. "He was. You remember when I told you they had this initiation thing, and that I tried getting out of it, but I was tricked?"

Percy nodded.

"Anders played a huge role in it all—it was his plan, apparently." Elisa licked her lips, looking as if she'd rather do anything else than recall her days of living on the street. "They wanted to see just how resourceful I was. They also wanted to see if they could find any clues to who my godly parent was."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

"I was played like a fool and fell into a very obvious trap," Elisa said. "Anders owned this hotel called 'The Timenest Hotel' right outside of New York and Maurelle promised that was a play I could stay for free because she was helping me get to the base of their operations. Well, Anders didn't really want it to be free, he wanted ... favors."

She looked at Percy, whose face had paled. "I was thirteen and he was twenty-five or so. And like any shitty guy, he refused to take 'No' for an answer. So I did what I had to do and stabbed him in the hand and made him go insane. That's what happened. They say I killed him—they found him shot through the head—but I never shot him."

"Maurelle found me the next morning," said Elisa. "I refused to stay in that place, so I slept on the street. She was pissed. And to retaliate, she had my mother's head. I didn't know it was my mother's, she had to tell me."

"Because ...?"

"Because it was so decomposed."

Percy grabbed Elisa's hand, intertwining their fingers. If she wasn't so close to puking from held-back sobs, she would've shaken his hand off.

She squeezed his hand before saying, "And so I killed Maurelle and displayed her head in the train station. Not my proudest moment," she admitted with a shrug.

Percy's eyebrows were knitting together. "I remember hearing that on the news. They said the head looked pretty decomposed. I mean, so much so that they couldn't make an identification—and there was no dental identification, either."

Elisa shrugged. "Some Mist thing, I'm sure. It doesn't matter anyway, they'll never link it back to me."

"How so?" asked Percy.

"Dionysus said he toyed with the Mist so I'm no longer considered a missing kid," said Elisa. "He told me I live with Callum because he's my first cousin and my mom passed away suddenly. Or—something like that."

"That was nice of him," Percy said. "He's not nice very often."

The daughter of Dionysus narrowed her eyes. "Is that supposed to be an insult to me? I know people say we're a lot alike, so if you're gonna insult me, just do it to my face."

Percy rolled his eyes. "It wasn't an insult for you. If I was gonna insult you, I'd say it outright."

Elisa punched his shoulder. "I hope you singe your eyebrows off with the fire."

"Your insults are so weird ..." Percy rubbed his shoulder.

"They're creative," she countered. "That's more than you can say for yourself."

Percy smiled at her. "It's good to talk like this again."

"Like we hate each other?" Elisa asked.

"We don't talk like we hate each other," Percy disagreed. "All I mean is, it's good to talk to you like before. I missed it."

Elisa shuffled in her seat, the tips of her ears turning red. "You can take first watch."

Percy's jaw dropped. "You're not gonna say anything at all?"

Elisa turned in her bedroll so her back faced Percy. "I'll take second watch!"

The boy scoffed. "Unbelievable ..."

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The ground was shaking beneath Elisa and her bedroll. She was shaken awake, sitting up quickly. A tan arm fell off her waist and into her lap—Percy's arm. Annabeth was trying to crawl out of her bedroll, her foot getting caught in the fabric.

"Wake him up!" Annabeth yelled at Elisa, pointing to the son of Poseidon beside her.

The shaking was growing more and more intense as the seconds ticked by. Earthquake. Elisa threw Percy's arm off, grabbing the front of his shirt to pull him into a sitting position. The boy looked troubled with knitted eyebrows and a creased forehead.

"Get up!" she yelled loudly, stumbling out of her bedroll.

The boy's eyes snapped open, trying to rip Elisa's hand away from his shirt. His eyes locked onto hers, full of fear and shock. Percy stopped struggling to take her hand away, telling her, "Tyson's—Tyson's in trouble! We have to help him!"

Elisa kicked away her bedroll, saying, "We have to help ourselves first. It's an earthquake!"

The rumblings of the big room were getting worse. Elisa and Annabeth were grabbing their packs as Percy yelled, "Rachel, get up!"

The redhead's eyes opened instantly. She grabbed her pack, and the four of them ran. They were almost to the far tunnel when a column next to them groaned and buckled. They kept going as a hundred tons of marble crashed down behind them.

They made it to the corridor and turned just in time to see the other columns toppling. A cloud of white dust billowed over us, and they kept running.

"You know what?" Annabeth said. "I like this way after all."

It wasn't long before Elisa saw light up ahead—like regular electric lighting.

"There," Rachel said.

They followed her into a stainless-steel hallway. Fluorescent lights glowed from the ceiling. The floor was a metal grate. Elisa was so used to being in the darkness, she had to squint. Annabeth, Percy, and Rachel looked pale in the harsh illumination.

"This way," Rachel said, beginning to run. "We're close!"

"This is so wrong!" Annabeth said. "The workshop should be in the oldest section of the maze. This can't—"

The blonde faltered, because they had arrived at a set of metal double doors. Inscribed in the steel, at eye level, was a large blue Greek Δ.

"We're here," Rachel announced. "Daedalus's workshop."

Elisa grunted, looking at the daughter of Athena. "This is wrong?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Shut the fuck up," Annabeth grumbled.

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With a touch of hesitancy, Annabeth pressed the symbol on the doors. The metal panels hissed open.

"So much for ancient architecture," Percy murmured.

Annabeth's scowl deepened. Instead of saying anything, she was the first to walk inside.

Elisa sent Percy a glance, walking after the daughter of wisdom. The first thing that struck her was the daylight—the blazing sun coming through giant windows. The workshop was like an artist's studio, with thirty-foot ceilings and industrial lighting, polished stone floors, and workbenches. A spiral staircase led up to a second-story loft. Half a dozen easels displayed hand-drawn diagrams of buildings and machines that looked like Leonardo da Vinci sketches. Several laptop computers were scattered around on the tables. Glass jars of green oil—Greek fire—lined one shelf. There were inventions, too—weird metal machines Elisa couldn't make sense of; one was a bronze chair with a bunch of electrical wires attached to it, like some kind of torture device. In another corner stood a giant metal egg about the size of a man. There was a grandfather clock that appeared to be made entirely of glass, so every gear was visible. And hanging on the wall were several sets of bronze and silver wings.

"Di immortales," Annabeth muttered. She ran to the nearest easel and looked at the sketch. "He's a genius. Look at the curves on this building!"

"And an artist," Rachel said in amazement. "These wings are amazing!"

The wings on display were beautifully made; the feathers were tightly interwoven with self-adhesive strips that ran down the sides.

Elisa tucked her hand in the pocket that held Acantha. Apparently, Daedalus was not at home, but the workshop looked like it had been used recently. The laptops were running their screen savers. A half-eaten blueberry muffin and a coffee cup sat on a workbench. She stayed close to the giant windows, recognizing the scene below them; the Rocky Mountains. They were high up in the foothills, at least five hundred feet, and, down below, a valley spread out, filled with a tumbled collection of red mesas and boulders and spires of stone.

Elisa looked to her left as someone stopped next to her. Percy looked amazed at the scene. "Where are we?" he wondered.

"Colorado," Elisa said, sounding not-so-happy about being in her home state.

"Colorado Springs," a voice corrected her. "The Garden of the Gods. I figured you know better, Miss Bardales."

Standing on the spiral staircase above us, with his weapon drawn, was the missing sword master, Quintus.

"You," Annabeth said. "What have you done with Daedalus?"

Quintus smiled faintly. "Trust me, my dear. You don't want to meet him."

"Look, Mr. Traitor," the daughter of Athena growled, her grey eyes holding a swirling storm, "I didn't fight a dragon woman and a three-bodied man and a psychotic Sphinx to see you. Now—where is Daedalus?"

Quintus came down the stairs, holding his sword at his side. He was dressed in jeans and boots and his counselor's T-shirt from Camp Half-Blood, which stung like salt on a wound knowing he was only a spy.

"You think I'm an agent of Kronos," he said. "That I work for Luke."

"Are you saying you don't?" Elisa countered.

"You're both intelligent girls," he said. "But are wrong. I work only for myself."

"Luke mentioned you," Percy said. "Geryon knew about you, too. You've been to his ranch."

"Of course," he said. "I've been almost everywhere. Even here."

The sword master walked past Elisa and Percy like they were no threat at all and stood by the window. "The view changes from day to day," he mused. "It's always some place high up. Yesterday it was from a skyscraper overlooking Manhattan. The day before that, there was a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. But it keeps coming back to the Garden of the Gods. I think the Labyrinth likes it here. A fitting name, I suppose."

"You've been here before," Percy said.

"Oh, yes."

"That's an illusion out there?" Percy asked. "A projection or something?"

"No," Rachel spoke up. "It's real. We're really in Colorado."

Quintus regarded her. "You have clear vision, don't you? You remind me of another mortal girl I once knew. Another princess who came to grief."

"Would you quit with the riddle talk already?" Elisa snapped. "Where the hell is Daedalus?"

Quintus stared at the brunette. "My dear, you need lessons from your friend on seeing clearly. I am Daedalus."

If Elisa was looking for an answer that would've made her sound like the smartest person in the room, she could've lied and said: 'I knew that!' Instead, she gave out a garbled chuckle. A laugh that was full of shock and disbelief. Her other three companions looked as shocked as she was, their jaws hanging open.

Percy broke the silence first with a, "But you're not an inventor! You're a swordsman!"

"I am both," Quintus said. "And an architect. And a scholar. I also play basketball pretty well for a guy who didn't start until he was two thousand years old. A real artist must be good at many things."

"That's true," Rachel said. "Like I can paint with my feet as well as my hands."

Elisa's face scrunched with disgust. "What the hell ..." she muttered. "Why would you even think of trying that?"

"It's a talent," Quintus said. "And she is a girl of many talents."

"But you don't even look like Daedalus," the son of Poseidon protested. "I saw him in a dream, and ..." Suddenly, his face paled as he looked at the sword master a little closer.

"Yes," Quintus said. "You've finally guessed the truth."

Elisa looked between Percy and Quintus. "What kind of truth?"

"You're an automaton," Percy said, his voice barely reaching a whisper. "You made yourself a new body."

Elisa took another good look at Camp Half-Blood's former sword master. He didn't look robotic, but that didn't really mean anything. She also didn't want to believe Percy, she didn't want to believe Daedalus had gone through the process of turning himself into a robot. The daughter of madness wasn't sure of the process but she didn't want to know. However Daedalus did it, it wasn't normal, let alone natural.

"Percy," Annabeth said uneasily, "that's not possible. That—that can't be an automaton."

Quintus chuckled. "Do you know what Quintus means, my dear?"

"The fifth, in Latin. But—"

"This is my fifth body." The swordsman held out his forearm. He pressed his elbow and part of his wrist popped open—a rectangular hatch in his skin. Underneath, bronze gears whirred. Wires glowed.

"That's amazing!" Rachel said.

"That's weird," Percy disagreed.

"¿Qué carajo?" Elisa gasped, covering her mouth.

"You found a way to transfer your animus into a machine?" Annabeth said, staring at the man in horror. "That's ... not natural."

"Oh, I assure you, my dear, it's still me. I'm still very much Daedalus. Our mother, Athena, makes sure I never forget that." He tugged back the collar of his shirt. At the base of his neck was the mark Elisa had seen before—the dark shape of a bird grafted to his skin.

"A murderer's brand," Elisa said, eyeing the mark with weariness.

"For your nephew, Perdix," Percy guessed. "The boy you pushed off the tower."

Quintus's face darkened. "I did not push him. I simply—"

"Made him lose his balance," Percy finished for him. "Let him die."

Quintus gazed out of the windows at the purple mountains. "I regret what I did, Percy. I was angry and bitter. But I cannot take it back, and Athena never lets me forget. As Perdix died, she turned him into a small bird—a partridge. She branded the bird's shape on my neck as a reminder. No matter what body I take, the brand appears on my skin."

Elisa didn't exactly have sympathy for the man. He murdered his nephew, and the murder wasn't out of self-defense. He was cold and heartless, but he was still a man with as much sadness as he had intelligence.

"You really are Daedalus," Percy decided. "But why did you come to the camp? Why spy on us?"

"To see if your camp was worth saving. Luke had given me one story. I preferred to come to my own conclusions."

Elisa frowned heavily. "So you've talked to Luke?"

"Oh, yes. Several times. He is quite persuasive."

"And crazy, too," the brunette murmured.

"But now you've seen the camp!" Annabeth persisted, ignoring Elisa's insults about the son of Hermes's character. "So you know we need your help. You can't let Luke through the maze!"

Daedalus set his sword on the workbench. "The maze is no longer mine to control, Annabeth. I created it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the price I paid for privacy."

"Privacy from what?"

"The gods," he said. "And death. I have been alive for two millennia, my dear, hiding from death."

"But how can you hide from Hades?" Percy asked. "I mean ... Hades has the Furies."

"They do not know everything," he said. "Or see everything. You have encountered them, Percy. You know this is true. A clever man can hide quite a long time, and I have buried myself very deep. Only my greatest enemy has kept after me, and even him I have thwarted."

"Have you, though?" Elisa countered. "Minos seems to be awfully close to finding you."

Daedalus nodded, though he didn't look too pleased with her statement. "He hunts for me relentlessly. Now that he is a judge of the dead, he would like nothing better than for me to come before him so he can punish me for my crimes. After the daughters of Cocalus killed him, Minos's ghost began torturing me in my dreams. He promised that he would hunt me down. I did the only thing I could. I retreated from the world completely. I descended into my Labyrinth. I decided this would be my ultimate accomplishment: I would cheat death."

"And you did," Annabeth marveled, "for two thousand years." She sounded kind of impressed, despite the horrible things Daedalus had done.

"And it's not right," Elisa said, staring at the man with contempt. "So many good people have lost their lives unfairly, and you get to keep living. It's ..." She took a deep breath, looking out the giant windows and to the rolling mountains beneath them.

Just then, a loud bark echoed from the corridor. Elisa heard the ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP of huge paws, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded into the workshop. She launched herself at Percy, licked his face once, and then almost knocked Daedalus over with an enthusiastic leap.

"There is my old friend!" Daedalus said, scratching Mrs. O'Leary behind the ears. "My only companion all these long lonely years."

"You let her save me," Percy said. "That whistle actually worked."

Daedalus nodded. "Of course it did, Percy. You have a good heart. And I knew Mrs. O'Leary liked you. I wanted to help you. Perhaps I—I felt guilty, as well."

"Guilty about what?"

"That your quest would be in vain."

Elisa's heart sank. She turned her back on the man, resting her hands on her hips as she took a deep breath.

"What?" Annabeth shrieked. "But you can still help us. You have to! Give us Ariadne's string so Luke can't get it."

"Yes ... the string. I told Luke that the eyes of a clear-sighted mortal are the best guide, but he did not trust me. He was so focused on the idea of a magic item. And the string works. It's not as accurate as your mortal friend here, perhaps. But good enough. Good enough."

"Where is it?" Annabeth said.

"With Luke," Elisa spat, turning back around to glare at Daedalus.

The son of Athena lowered his head. "I'm sorry. But you are several hours too late."

That's why Luke had been in such a good mood in the arena. He'd already got the string from Daedalus. His only obstacle had been the arena master, and Percy had taken care of that for him by killing Antaeus.

"Kronos promised me freedom," Quintus said. "Once Hades is overthrown, he will set me over the Underworld. I will reclaim my son Icarus. I will make things right with poor young Perdix. I will see Minos's soul cast into Tartarus, where it cannot bother me again. And I will no longer have to run from death."

"You're a fool," Elisa hissed. "Kronos promised me safety and all he did was throw me into the claws of a repulsive man. You're supposed to be wise, and this is your plan? To let Luke destroy Camp Half-Blood, kills hundred and hundreds of demigods, and then bring down Olympus? All so you don't have to face the fact that you're a shitty guy?"

"Your cause is doomed. I saw that as soon as I began to work at your camp. There is no way you can hold back the might of Kronos."

"That's not true!" Annabeth cried.

"I am doing what I must, my dear. The offer was too sweet to refuse. I'm sorry."

Annabeth pushed over an easel. Architectural drawings scattered across the floor. "I used to respect you. You were my hero! You—you built amazing things. You solved problems. Now ... I don't know what you are. Children of Athena are supposed to be wise, not just clever. Maybe you are just a machine. You should have died two thousand years ago."

Instead of getting mad, Daedalus hung his head. "You should go warn your camp. Now that Luke has the string—"

Suddenly, Mrs. O'Leary pricked up her ears.

"Someone's coming!" Rachel warned.

The doors of the workshop burst open, and Nico was pushed inside, his hands in chains. Then Kelli, another empousa, and two Laistrygonians marched in behind him, followed by the ghost of Minos. He looked almost solid now—a pale bearded king with cold eyes and tendrils of Mist coiling off his robes.

He fixed his gaze on Daedalus. "There you are, my old friend."

The inventor's jaw clenched. He looked at Kelli. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Luke sends his compliments," Kelli said. "He thought you might like to see your old employer, Minos."

"This was not part of our agreement," Daedalus said.

"No indeed," Kelli said. "But we already have what we want from you, and we have other agreements to honor. Minos required something else from us, in order to turn over this fine young demigod." She ran a finger under Nico's chin. Elisa clenched her jaw, anger flowering in the bottom of her stomach. "He'll be quite useful. And all Minos asked in return was your head, old man."

Daedalus paled. "Treachery."

"Get used to it," Kelli said.

Elisa tried to not shake with anger. She said with barely contained rage, "Nico, are you okay?"

The son of Hades nodded morosely. "I—I'm sorry, Elisa. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go back into the maze."

"You were trying to help us?" Percy asked.

"I was tricked," Nico said. "He tricked all of us."

Percy glared at Kelli. "Where's Luke? Why isn't he here?"

The she-demon smiled like she and Percy were sharing a private joke. "Luke is . . . busy. He is preparing for the assault. But don't worry. We have more friends on the way. And in the meantime, I think I'll have a wonderful snack!" Her hands changed to claws. Her hair burst into flame and her legs turned to their true form—one donkey leg, one bronze.

"Percy," Rachel whispered, "the wings. Do you think—?"

"Get them," Percy said. "I'll try to buy you some time."

And with that, a gigantic fight broke loose. Annabeth, Percy, and Elisa charged at Kelli. The giants came right at Daedalus, but Mrs. O'Leary leaped to his defense. Nico got pushed to the ground and struggled with his chains while the spirit of Minos wailed, "Kill the inventor! Kill him!"

Rachel grabbed the wings off the wall. Nobody paid her any attention. Kelli and the second empousa slashed at Annabeth. Percy tried to get to her, but the monsters were quick and deadly. They turned over tables, smashed inventions, and wouldn't let the demigods get close. Out of the corner of her eye, Elisa saw Mrs. O'Leary chomp her fangs into a giant's arm. He wailed in pain and flung her around, trying to shake her off. Daedalus grabbed for his sword, but the second giant smashed the workbench with his fist, and the sword went flying. A clay jar of Greek fire broke on the floor and began to burn, green flames spreading quickly.

With the two she-demons busy with her friends, Elisa dove for Nico. The boy was straining in his chains, trying to reach for his sword to cut them off. The daughter of Dionysus pulled out her knife, Scion, too afraid to use Acantha so close to Nico's face.

"Hold still," she told him, slicing through the bonds.

"Elisa—" Nico started to say but she cut him off.

"Later, okay?" she said. "After we get out of here."

Nico gave her a small nod, picking up his sword that was as dark as midnight.

"To me!" Minos cried. "Spirits of the dead!" He raised his ghostly hands and the air began to hum.

"No!" Nico cried, gripping the sword so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"You do not control me, young fool," Minos sneered. "All this time, I have been controlling you! A soul for a soul, yes. But it is not your sister who will return from the dead. It is I, as soon as I slay the inventor!"

Spirits began to appear around Minos—shimmering forms that slowly multiplied, solidifying into Cretan soldiers.

"I should've fucking known," Elisa snapped, annoyed with herself.

"I am the son of Hades," Nico insisted, pushing past Elisa. "Begone!"

Minos laughed. "You have no power over me. I am the lord of spirits! The ghost king!"

"No." Nico placed his sword in front of him, directly in line with his ghost advisor. "I am."

He stabbed his black blade into the floor, and it cleaved through the stone like butter.

"Never!" Minos's form rippled. "I will not—"

The ground rumbled. The windows cracked and shattered to pieces, letting in a blast of fresh air. A fissure opened in the stone floor of the workshop, and Minos and all his spirits were sucked into the void with a horrible wail.

One problem was dealt with. Minos was gone. However, the fight was still going on around them. And Elisa had let herself become distracted. An empousa pounced for her, but the daughter of madness launched herself over a table, flipping it before the monster could give chase.

Elisa stuck the six-foot spear out in front of her body. The empousa didn't dare move, fearing Elisa would lash out with Acantha. The girl took heavy breaths, adrenaline coursing through her vines as she said, "Not gonna attack? Scared or what?"

The she-demon bared her fangs and lunged once again. All the wooden workbenches around them seemed to remember that vines used to once grow on them. The awfully green vines wrapped around the monster's limbs, stringing her up from the ceiling. Clusters of red grapes hung from each hand and foot of the monster.

It wasn't a power she liked to use often. Elisa always thought it seemed a little dramatic. Still, she enjoyed not being the prey for once and seeing an empousa caught in her trap.

"Say hello to Maurelle for me." Elisa grinned, slicing the she-demon along the stomach.

The empousa exploded into a cloud of golden dust. The green vines fell to the floor, no longer obeying Elisa's orders. There was a roar that overpowered the rest. Kelli was baring her teeth at Elisa. The monster turned, looking for any way to achieve vengeance for her sister. That's when Elisa saw Percy with his guard down, and Kelli saw him as well.

The she-demon punched for him, not giving him time to react. Riptide flew out of his hand and skittered across the floor. Percy's head made contact with the edge of a workbench.

Elisa gritted her teeth to stop a frustrated sigh from tumbling out. She gripped Acantha as she ran across Daedalus's workshop. She dodged a giant's hand and sidestepped Mrs. O'Leary jumping for the monster.

Kelli laughed in Percy's face. "You will taste wonderful!"

The daughter of Dionysus swung her right arm, Acantha cutting through the air before it made contact with the empousa's back. The spear impaled itself through the middle of the monster's back, not going through far enough to touch the son of Poseidon. Kelli's body went rigid, and her red eyes widened.

She gasped, "No ... school ... spirit ..."

Elisa retched the spear out of the target. With an awful screech, Kelli dissolved into yellow vapor.

With a disgusted look on her face, and making sure to avoid the remanets of the vapor, Elisa grabbed Percy's hand and pulled him to his feet. The boy looked disoriented with hazy eyes and a pale face.

"I hate empousai," the girl complained. "They've always been pains in my ass. You're not bleeding, are you? You hit your head pretty hard."

Percy touched the back of his softly, and Elisa got the impression he was trying not to wince in front of her. "I'm fine," he said.

There was yelling and shouting in the tunnel nearby. More monsters were coming for them. They had no more time to lose.

"We have to help Daedalus," Percy said.

"No time," Rachel said. "Too many coming!"

The redhead had already fitted herself with wings. Annabeth had on a pair too, trying to see them on her back. Rachel was working on Nico, who looked pale and sweaty from his struggle with Minos. The wings grafted to his back and arms instantly.

"Now you!" Rachel pointed to Percy.

Elisa's arm was grabbed tightly by Annabeth, who shoved a pair of golden wings on her back. "Hold still," the blonde commanded, helping the wings connect to Elisa's arms and back.

In seconds, she, Nico, Annabeth, Rachel, and Percy had fitted themselves with coppery wings, Already, Elisa could feel herself being lifted by the wind coming through the window. Greek fire was burning the tables and furniture, spreading up the circular stairs.

"Daedalus!" Elisa yelled. "There's a pair left. Come on!"

The son of Athena was cut in a hundred places—but he was bleeding golden oil instead of scarlet blood. He'd found his sword and was using part of a smashed table as a shield against the giants. "I won't leave Mrs. O'Leary!" he said. "Go!"

There was no time to argue. And Elisa was fine with his sacrifice; he was keeping the remaining monsters busy so they could escape with their lives.

"None of us know how to fly!" Nico protested.

"Great time to find out," Percy told him.

Elisa grabbed ahold of Nico's arm before she jumped out of the window into the open sky. She wasn't leaving him behind.

👑  NOV. 22ND, 2022  /  i was always a bit hesitant to have elisa saying stuff in spanish bc i don't speak spanish at all of course i try to fact-check the phrases i want to use,, but like all languages, there's different ways to say things and i don't know the nuances

also,, elisa can get a little dark at times so, yeah she doesn't always do the safe or the "hero" option bc she's not exactly a hero like annabeth or percy

anyways, thoughts?? opinions??

TRANSLATIONS!

SPANISH!

¿qué carajo? - what the fuck?