CHAPTER TWO ━━ WHERE ART THOU FATHER?

THERE WAS LOUD THUNDER outside as soon as Eurydice stepped into her apartment complex. It seemed like the gods were not on her side today if the weather was going to confuse like this. Not that she even believed in the gods in the first place, but she knows for a fact that they wouldn't like her. She sighed to herself as she watched the rain patter on the windows as walked towards the elevator to take her to her floor. She breathed in shakily as she held her backpack over her shoulders tightly.

She still wasn't really sure exactly what had happened that day. But all she knew was that she believed Percy, she knew that he didn't touch Nancy. Yet Grover told on him anyways, which accidentally got Eurydice involved as well. But Yancy wasn't a good school anyways if they let bullies like Nancy get away with tormenting others. In a way she was kind of glad that she had gotten kicked out, even if it wasn't what she had wanted. It wasn't Percy's fault, he shouldn't feel bad for what he couldn't control.

Eurydice would follow Percy to the ends of the earths because he was her best friend in the entire world. And now that they'll never see Grover again, he's all she has left. She doesn't think she'll ever understand why Grover did that to them. She clenched her fists at the thought of the dark haired boy, he was their friend! She trusted him! And she just- she can't stop thinking about it no matter how hard she tries.

Could she have done anything that he would have chosen not to tell on them? She doubts it but she hates that she can't stop thinking of all the possibilities in which she could have stopped all of this from happening. If she had done anything right her and Percy would probably still be at Yancy happily playing another game of Mythomagic with Grover. She unclenched her fists suddenly, feeling the pain in her hand when she pressed too hard. Eurydice never liked being angry, but her anger would always vanish too soon and then doubt comes in.

She heard the slight ding of the elevator opening up as she walked out towards her floor. The ding had shaken her out of her erratic thoughts, her mother had always said that she had a tendency to overthink every little thing that only made her feel worse in the end. She tried her best to try and stop it, but for some godawful reason she found no way to turn it off no matter how hard she tried. Her thoughts always overpowered her in someway, even when she tried the hardest she could to push them down.

She slowly stepped out of the elevator as she made her way towards her floor. Her duffel bag was slumped over her other shoulder as she stepped down the hallway. Her steps echoed in the completely empty hallway as her eyes scanned the numbers on each and every apartment door. Her bags were heavy but that didn't matter much to her at all, she wouldn't be going back to a boarding school anytime soon. Maybe her mom would let her go to the same school as Percy if Sally was able to find some other school in the area who hadn't blacklisted him from coming to their school.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she walked down another one of the various hallways on her floor. It took one a few hallways to get to hers, but it was quieter than usual. She found it odd, when usually there'd be younger kids playing out in there attempting to play tag in the long hallways. As soon as she had gotten closer to her apartment she heard loud screaming matches from down the hall. She winced slightly as she quietly crept down the hallway into her apartment.

There was always a loud screaming fight on the other side of their apartment. Their next door neighbours... well they weren't very pleasant people. They had a daughter too, she thinks her name was Michelle. She wasn't sure if there was a father in the picture but all she knew was that she wasn't treated too well by her family. Her mom had always babysat the younger girl whenever she could, to keep her away from her family at least for a little while longer. Her mother always seemed to hold a special kind of care somberness whenever she spoke about the girl.

Eurydice had never truly met the girl herself, but she hoped that she would get out of there someday. She wasn't around enough at home since she was at Yancy, but she bets that she would have liked the girl even if she was considerably younger than her. She didn't know a lot about her situation but it seemed bad enough that her mom was concerned, and she trusted her mom's judgment. She carefully crept towards their apartment door, wincing as she rummaged through her pockets to find her keys.

She saw a glimpse of the girl in the doorway, she waved at her with a smile as the girl stared at her and went back inside of the apartment. Eurydice sighed in relief as the door to her apartment swung open

As soon as she entered the apartment all she could smell was the aroma of homemade cookies. She perked up in excitement as she locked the door behind her as she walked into their apartment. As soon as she got to their kitchen table, her mother passed her a plate full of sugar cookies. Her eyes widened in excitement. "Mom, are these for me?" She whispered in surprise, she really would have thought she'd have been in trouble for what happened at Yancy.

Her mother just smiled at her, her eyes crinkling at the sides with warm laughter. "Of course they are, honey. Who else would they be for?" She chuckled at the shocked look on her face. "The school called me you know, they told me that you helped Percy stand up to a bully. And I told them that there wouldn't be any punishment for you doing the right thing." She looked at her with pride, though Eurydice didn't feel like she deserved it. She took a bite out of one of the sugar cookies with a small smile.

Her mom sat down at the stool beside her. "And, your headmaster was saying that you should be punished, and you know what I told him?" She asked her with a smirk. She had a twinkle in her eyes that couldn't be shaken. Eurydice shook her head at her mom, her mouth full with pieces of cookie crumbs. "Uh.. no?" She responded in confusion. Her eyes moving to look at her mother's face questioningly. "I told him to go fuck himself." She immediately gasped. "Mom!" She cried softly, shocked and a little impressed. "Are you serious?" She asked her, eyes wide in shock.

One thing about Alison Ramirez, she was a formidable woman. She had no issue with letting her daughter hear her swear and always pushed her be confident in everything that she did. Unfortunately Eurydice hadn't inherited much of her mother's traits, but her mother's sense of morality and kindness had stuck with her daughter. One thing her mother and her also had in common, was that neither of them had a filter. Whenever Eurydice wasn't overthinking she had no filter whatsoever, which had come from her mother herself.

Her mom was also brave, where Eurydice was not. She was comfortable with staying as things were, at least until what had happened at Yancy. Things were forcibly changed, but she can't help but think that maybe it was the right idea after all. It wouldn't hurt for her to be braver, instead of being scared all the time of things that couldn't touch her. She liked to be careful, but maybe she had to be a different kind of brave.

Her mother smiled that kind of smile that she knew she was smug about it. "Yes, I am serious. That guy was an asshole anyways." She muttered as she took a piece the cookie in Eurydice's hand. "Hey, Mom!" She complained with a slight whine, as the older woman laughed at her. "Hey, I'm your mother. I'm allowed to take things from you." She laughed, smiling at her softly. It was only a second that she saw her mother's once happy smile flicker into a conflicted one.

She looked like she was in thought before she started smiling down at her daughter again. "Mom? Are you okay..?" Eurydice's voice went soft in concern for her mother. Her frown deepening as she saw her mother's eyes flicker with some deep conflict. Her mother was almost never upset, which made her feel sick. Suddenly all of her worries were back right in a flash.

She watched her mother's hands shake slightly as she put her hands onto her shoulders. Her eyes drifted towards her face in concern, her eyes looking back and forth at her in worry. Her mother sighed deeply, hugging her tightly over her chair. "I'm alright honey, I'm fine. Okay?" She stared at her in worry. "You don't look fine." She muttered bluntly at her mother, who just looked at her with a bitter sadness.

Her mother's gaze flickered down to Eurydice's face again as she pulled away. "There's... something I need to tell you, Edie." Her voice was soft as her mother used the nickname she only called her when she was a baby. Her frown only deepened into even more confusion. "..Mom?" She muttered out softly in worry, feeling like she could fall apart at any moment. Her mother was never sad, ever. That must mean whatever she's going to tell her is bad.

Are they moving? Did mom loose her job again so they had to move to the sketchy part of town and she'd have to stop going to school? All of these possibilities went through her head as her mother struggled to come up with a way to tell her. "Do... you remember when you were younger and you used to have imaginary friends?" Her mother asked her, her voice shaking significantly. Her eyes narrowed at her in concern. "Yes...? But what does that have to do with anything- mom?" She muttered in concern.

She only sighed deeply in response. "What if... these imaginary friends were real. And.. that you really weren't hearing things." She murmured to her so earnestly and real, that she couldn't help but believe that she was telling the truth. Even though what she was saying made no absolute sense at all. "What?" She stared at her mother in confusion. She looked like she was struggling to string her words together as she stared at her.

The rain pattered on outside as she watched her mother in worry. She wasn't sure whether or not to believe her, even if she wanted to so badly. These past few days have been weird, and she feels like she's slowly going insane and that no one understands her expect the one person who isn't here right now, Percy. Now even her mom was making her feel like she was going crazy. What was all of this? Was she trying to make her feel better about what happened at Yancy? The storm had seemed to be getting angrier as they spoke.

Her mother sighed shakily. "What if... I told you that some of your imaginary friends worked with your father." Her eyes narrowed slightly at her mother's face in disbelief as she heard her say that. "I'm sorry, what?" She didn't mask her shock. Just staring at her mother in concern. "Mom— are you sure you're okay?" She whispered to her worriedly, trying to reach out for her hand. Her mother shakily took her hand in hers, her eyes showing clear emotion in them.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Mom, how would that even be possible? My dad? We're talking about my dad who ran out on us?" Her mother shook her head at her softly. "No, he didn't abandon us, Edie." She said this so softly and earnestly that it hurt to see the obvious love her mother still had for that man. She scoffed. "Mom. he left us. Sure, he left me an unholy amount of money for college but that doesn't mean anything!" She insisted in frustration.

She had never met her father. She only remembered a dark haired man who was there for the first six years of her life and as soon as he came, he left it. Leaving them a large amount of money that she couldn't even access until she was eighteen, and leaving her mother with a broken heart. That was who she remembered her father as. She couldn't even remember his face if she even tried. There were days that she hated him more than she hated herself.

Her mother frantically looked at her. "He didn't want to leave us. Believe me, Edie. Please. I want to tell you everything right now but I can't. Not now. Until we get to Sally." Her eyebrows narrowed at her in confusion. "What? Mom, what are you talking about? Sally and Percy?" She stared at her, was this some kind of punishment for what she and Percy did?

For once, her mother wasn't making sense to her. When sometimes she was the only thing in her life that did. "Mom! What is going on?" She shouted at her desperately in hysterics, she needed to know what was going on. She didn't understand any of this! How could she when her mom wasn't telling her anything! Something seemed to be holding her back, like a huge secret that she had been holding in for so long. "Your father... he isn't just a man." She breathed in shakily as she finished her sentence.

Her eyes flickered towards her mom's in concern. "What?" She sat there in absolute shock. "He.... is something else entirely." Her mother muttered vaguely, her voice coming out as a painful whisper. "What-" Eurydice murmured in confusion, not putting the pieces of the puzzle together. If there was a puzzle she had to solve her, she had clearly not even opened the box yet.

Her mother repressed another sigh. "But we can't talk about this here. We have to see Sally and Percy. Pack your things, please Edie. This is important." She said to her shakily, the cookies on their kitchen table left largely forgotten. There was a haunting look in her mother's eyes that she couldn't ignore. "Okay." She muttered out softly. "I'll pack..." She muttered in uncertainty, although she knew she hadn't really unpacked.

She had no clue whatsoever about what Sally and Percy had to do with this. It just didn't make sense. She carefully walked towards her bedroom as her mother sat down in the corner, looking like she needed to regain her composure. Her mother had always been her biggest protector, and now..for once she was afraid of something. And that.. scared her.

She shut the door to her bedroom behind her as she chose other things to pack in her bags. She grabbed the Mythomagic manual she had gotten for her birthday last year. There were little notes written by Percy and Grover throughout the manual, it might have sounded stupid to anyone else. But the game comforted her on some other level she couldn't explain, it was fun to play the hero and kill monsters. Even if she wasn't the violent type, it was still fun.

She threw the manual into her backpack along with three extra changes of clothes. She wasn't sure why her mom needed her to pack, but it was better to be prepared than take nothing at all. She shoved her wireless headphones into her backpack as well, she could not survive without music. She had only managed to survive at Yancy without them because she had managed to borrow old airpods from a girl in an older grade.

Don't ask her how she managed to get the girl to agree to give them to her free of charge, she guessed that just has really good negotiating skills. She still isn't sure where she got those skills from though... Well anyways she rugged through one of her drawers to find it, she sighed in relief where she found it right where she had left it. It was her lucky charm, a pearl pomegranate necklace her mother had gotten her for her birthday this year.

She wasn't allowed to have taken it to Yancy with her because they don't allow jewelry at school, but it was one of her most prized possessions. Her mother had told her the jeweller she had gotten it from made a special discount just for them. She wasn't sure how they had managed to get the discount, but she loved the necklace.

It also served as her good luck charm, and thinking about the look on her mother's face told her that she would need a lot of luck for what was to come. She didn't know how or why her mother was trying to get her to Sally and Percy so badly. But she trusted her mom, above everything else.

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They were on the road for a while as Eurydice watched her mother grip onto steering wheel tightly. She seemed tense. Meanwhile she sat in the backseat with her headphones on. The ride was relatively quiet as she listened to the music onto her mother's old walkman she had remanufactured to connect to her headphones and download new music on it. Her mom was pretty crafty as well, which was a good thing for her.

She did have a phone, but it was pretty old. So this was her next best option. She yawned slightly as the bumps in the road became more infrequent the closer they got to the beach. Her mother still hadn't explained where they were going, she knew Sally and Percy would be there. She didn't even know what to expect. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and wondered if they were going to go home after this. Her assumption was interrupted but her mom stopping the car immediately as they parked right in front of an old looking cabin overlooking the beach.

It was raining hard as she watched her mom silently step out of the car. Eurydice swallowed hard as she carefully pulled her jacket's hood up and pulled her backpack on. Her mother had a hard look on her face, looking like she was a woman on a mission. She faintly wondered what all of her actions so far even meant. She hadn't even properly explained anything to her.

Other than the fact that her father wasn't a man. She still had no idea what that meant. Was she trying to tell her that her father was a monster, or something else entirely? Judging on the way their night was progressing, she would know soon.

They entered the cabin with a swing of the door. She swallowed slightly, unsure if it was such a good idea to just walk in. And it turned out she was right and as soon as she walked in she heard Mrs. Jackson speak. "Because... he- he wasn't a man at all. He was a god." She could faintly see Percy staring at his mother in confusion as he muttered, sounding completely lost. "You fell in love with God? Like... jesus?" She would have laughed if she wasn't so mortified at the thought.

She immediately turned to her mother with her eyes wide open. "Wait. Oh god, is my dad jesus too??" She muttered in absolute hysterics, looking very mortified. She sounded like she was going to freak out, way too mortified at that thought to process what was going on. Sally immediately turned over to them, looking over apologetically at her mother. They had really barged in at a bad time.

Percy staring at her in absolute confusion. "Eurydice?" She muttered softly in confusion, almost looking relieved to see her. She stood there in the entrance of the cabin awkwardly. "Hi." She tried to wave, but it turned out more awkward than she had wanted it to be. Percy's mother