¹Royal Cries, p. jackson

005.

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."