¹Royal Cries, p. jackson

002.

ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter two

━━ "ELISA!" GROVER HURRIED over to her, a nervous look on his face. She half-expected him to start munching on the styrofoam cups used for the party. ( The first time she ever saw him eat something not edible, she thought he was trying to end it all because he hated her that much. )

               Elisa swirled the punch around her cup lazily. "Yeah?" she asked. "What's got your hooves in a twist?"

               "Shh!" Grover shushed her, pulling them away from the crowd of middle school boys and to one of the white brick walls. "Don't say that kind of stuff so loud!"

               The girl rolled her eyes. "Those boys about have as many brain cells as fruit flies do."

               "Look, I called Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia to help us get Nico and Bianca to Camp," Grover said, changing the topic. "Dr. Thorn is getting antsy, he's gonna attack you guys tonight to see if you guys are half-bloods."

               "He's gonna attack them," Elisa corrected. "He knows that I already know."

               "He's still gonna attack you," Grover pointed out. The girl rolled her eyes silently.

               Bianca and Nico di Angelo, the two half-bloods Grover had found that didn't know they were half-bloods. He technically had found Elisa, but that was simply an accident, and she already knew what she was.

               "He's still gonna attack you!" Grover insisted.

               Elisa looked around the gym, watching the classmates she barely bothered to learn anything about. Westover Hall was a military school, forcing the students to do planks and run for ten minutes at six in the morning. Torture essentially. And Dr. Thorn, the teacher Grover swore was the monster he smelled, knew he and Elisa were onto him.

               Dr. Thorn was at the school by the time the two arrived in October. He tried everything in his power to kick them out. It almost worked too, if it wasn't for all the other teachers believing the two had no problem.

               Elisa demanded that Grover told her how he did it, but he didn't know. They knew the teachers would let the satyr in, Chiron made it so. Grover was on his way to Westover Hall to retrieve some more half-bloods, but Elisa wasn't a part of that. They shouldn't have let Elisa in, she was never a part of the plan.

               But Grover insisted to take good luck with a smile and a "Thank you" to the gods, but not forgetting something bad could happen. And now it was December, the school was having an end-of-the-semester party. Elisa was okay with skipping but Grover dragged her along, saying that Dr. Thorn wasn't going to let them leave without an attack.

               The worst thing about military schools is the parties. When you give the kids one fun thing, they go nuts, feeling they have to overcompensate because everything else is so strict.

               "Don't you think bringing more half-bloods here will only make him more suspicious?" Elisa said, handing the empty cup to Grover. "Dr. Thorn, I mean."

               Grover chewed on the cup nervously, making sure his back was facing the crowd. He ate the cup in three bites, wiping at his mouth. "I know Percy was getting bored at home. He missed Annabeth, too."

               "So you invited him 'cause you pitied him?" Elisa raised her eyebrows, an unimpressed look on her face.

               "No!" Grover insisted, shaking his head. "Because he can help if something goes wrong. He, Annabeth, and Thalia all've had training that you haven't had."