¹Royal Cries, p. jackson

003.

ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter three

━━ MRS. O'LEARY WAS the only friendly hellhound Elisa had ever met. Mrs. O'Leary was the size of a garbage truck and smelled like sulfur and dog shampoo. She used to be Daedalus's pet, but after his death last summer, Percy became her new caretaker. But since he stayed in New York during the school year, the hellhound became Elisa, Beckendorf, and Annabeth's responsibility.

               Other campers tried to take care of Mrs. O'Leary, but since she was a hellhound and demigods run on impulse, more than once a demigod saw her and went into survival mode. Elisa didn't exactly want a hellhound for a pet, but for Percy's sake ( and since Annabeth also refused to be the only one taking care of Mrs. O'Leary  ), the daughter of Dionysus helped with the monster.

               Mrs. O'Leary saw Elisa and Percy before they saw her, which was a pretty good trick considering her size. The moment the two walked into the arena, a wall of darkness slammed into Percy, knocking him to the ground. Elisa cracked a smile at the sight of Mrs. O'Leary licking Percy's face.

               The boy yelped with shock. "Hey, girl," he greeted the hellhound. "Good to see you, too. Ow!"

               It took a few minutes for Mrs. O'Leary to calm down and get off the son of Poseidon. The boy got on his feet as Mrs. O'Leary bounded over to Elisa with as much enthusiasm. Elisa scratched the hellhound behind the ear, snickering at Percy trying to wipe the drool off of himself.

               "Should I be jealous?" Percy asked.

               Elisa looked at the boy. "Of what?"

               "Mrs. O'Leary seems to like you as much as she likes me," the boy said, motioning to the dog. "I thought I was her person."

               "Oh," said the daughter of madness. "It's only 'cause I feed her in the mornings."

               "I think she likes you because of your stunning personality," Percy said.

               Elisa stopped petting the hellhound, who whined with disapproval. "I'm gonna remind you I'm still on the fence about talking to you," she said.

               Percy rolled his eyes but didn't say anything in return. Mrs. O'Leary wanted to play fetch, so the boy picked up a bronze shield and tossed it across the arena. Instead of bringing the shield back to Percy, the hellhound dropped the slobbery hellhound toy at Elisa's feet.

               Percy gave the girl a mock glare. "She likes only because you feed her?"

               Elisa gave him an annoyed look. "I took care of her a lot while you were gone. Me, Annabeth, and Beckendorf."

               Percy seem to flinch at the last name said, and Elisa wished she could've gone back in time to avoid saying it. Just thinking about the son of Hephaestus made her want to cry. Mrs. O'Leary didn't seem to notice the new air of tension as she bounded back toward Elisa with the shield.

               Beckendorf used to help Annabeth and Elisa take care of Mrs. O'Leary whenever they were too busy to do it. And over time, and as the girls got busier, he wanted to take care of Mrs. O'Leary, taking care of the hellhound no longer being just a task for some friends. He had smelted Mrs. O'Leary's favorite bronze chewing bone. He'd forged her collar with the little smiley face and crossbones nametag. Beckendorf had been one of the few demigods to take care of the monster.