¹Royal Cries, p. jackson

010.

ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter ten

━━ ELISA HAD NO fucking idea that Annabeth knew how to fly a helicopter. But now that she witnessed it with her own eyes, it made sense. Ananbeth's father, Dr. Chase, had a whole Sopwith Camel down in San Francisco. Surely, some of his fascination with those had been passed down to his daughter.

               Elisa stood in shock as she watched the daughter of Athena fly the helicopter and land it safely.

               She ran forward as the rotors spun to a stop. Rachel opened the side door and dragged out the pilot. The redhead was still dressed like she was on vacation; in beach shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals. Her hair was tangled and her face was green from the helicopter ride.

               Annabeth climbed out last.

               Elisa grinned widely. "You never told me you could fly a helicopter!"

               "I didn't know I could," the blonde admitted. "My dad's crazy into aviation. Plus Daedalus had some notes on flying machines. I just took my best guess on the controls."

               "You saved my life," Rachel said.

               The daughter of Athena furrowed her brows. She still hadn't exactly forgiven the mortal for hijacking her quest last summer. "Yeah, well ... Let's not make a habit of it."

               Elisa looked at the mortal redhead. "What the hell are you doing here? It was stupid to fly into a warzone, don't you think?"

               Rachel looked almost scared of the daughter of Dionysus, and Elisa realized why. She was decked out in full Greek armor; armor that was coated in blood, monster dust, and other nasty stuff. Not to mention the two golden weapons at her side. She figured the mortal had seen just about enough scary stuff after nearly dying in a helicopter and didn't need Elisa bombarding her.

               "I—" Rachel glanced at Percy. "I had to be here. I knew Percy was in trouble."

               Elisa fought the urge to scoff. Even if Rachel was one of the braver mortals she has met, still didn't make her crush on the boy any less bothersome. Not that Elisa blamed the girl for liking him, it was something they had in common.

               "You got that right," Annabeth said. "I'll go around, checking on the injured. Glad you could stop by, Rachel," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

               Then she walked off casually, like she hadn't just landed a helicopter and saved multiple lives.

               Rachel plopped down on the curb and put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to ... I always mess things up."

               "It's okay," Percy told Rachel, though his words sounded hollow. He didn't sound too pleased to see her. "So what's the message you wanted to deliver?"

               She frowned. "How did you know about that?"

               "A dream."

               Rachel didn't look surprised. She tugged at her beach shorts. They were covered in drawings and symbols Elisa recognized: Greek letters, pictures from camp beads, sketches of monsters, and faces of gods. The demigod frowned at them, not understanding how a mortal would know about most of it. She'd never been to Olympus or Camp Half-Blood—for obvious reasons.

               "I've been seeing things, too," Rachel muttered. "I mean, not just through the Mist. This is different. I've been drawing pictures, writing lines—"