¹Royal Cries, p. jackson

009.

ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter nine

━━ ONE WEEK SINCE the Mount St. Helens explosion. A week since Annabeth and Elisa left the Labyrinth. No news—good or bad. Elisa had heard nothing about Grover, Tyson, or Percy. The quest had been put to a halt. Everyone walked around her and Annabeth as if they were walking in a minefield.

No one ever said anything, but Elisa got the distinct impression they were waiting for the two girls to be 'okay' enough to suggest the idea of resuming the quest.

Elisa would rather them just say it to her face while calling her a bitch than treating her like a porcelain doll. She would rather throw herself back in the Labyrinth to occupy her mind than to give herself time to think.

It seemed to everyone that the daughter of madness was numb. To some degree, they were right. She no longer felt the burning behind her eyes or in the back of her throat. She didn't have any more tears to give—in front of people or behind closed doors.

Elisa tried telling herself she wasn't the only one who lost Percy. ( Though no matter how much her mind was telling her she had lost the most. ) Camp Half-Blood had lost Percy. Percy was a friend to many, like Charles and Silena, and he was Annabeth's best friend. There weren't many campers that felt like children to Chiron, but Percy was one of them. His missing presence was felt all over Camp Half-Blood.

That's why the girl threw herself back into the investigation of the Labyrinth head first. Ignoring the disapprovements of everyone. Even Clarisse was trying to drag the girl back to Cabin Twelve to get her to rest.

Drew stood in the open doorway of the cabin. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were solemn. "Clarisse told you to sleep."

"I found a new lead that I think could help Chris," Elisa mumbled, marking out a sentence that was scrawled in a notebook.

Drew eyed the notebook; the composition notebook with Post-it notes and slivers of paper sticking out. "You're dad's gonna get back here soon, so if you just wait for him to get back—"

"I've got to try!" she snapped angrily. Elisa's eyes were cold and hardened.

She took a deep breath, closing the notebook, the pen still inside. "Sorry. I didn't ... I don't think the lead will work anyway."

"I think you need to sleep," Drew said; her voice held a calming tone to it. "You can look at that new lead tomorrow after breakfast."

Charmspeak, Elisa recognized it immediately. Her eyelids grew heavy, feeling as if her mind was glossing over. Drew watched the girl carefully, grabbing the notebook and laying it gently on the bed nearby.

"Sleep," the daughter of Aphrodite repeated.

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Dreams tormented Elisa's mind and tested her sanity. The daughter of madness expected the same one, the same one that had been haunting her since that day in Durango. Or the dreams of people descending into madness, what had been the last straw for their sanity.

But this time ... it was different. Different because her mind was taunting the girl for things she hadn't done.

The first thing Elisa noticed was the beach she was standing on. If she hadn't been so on guard, the girl might have been able to enjoy the view. The sky was orange, pink, and yellow, it looked as if Apollo had taken the time to paint the sunset. The waves were crashing softly against the shore, washing over Elisa's feet. But the hems on Elisa's pants didn't get wet, almost a comforting reminder that she was in a dream.