CHAPTER THREE ━━ THE GODS ARE REAL

EURYDICE HAD BEEN ushered inside of the Camp as older campers, healers she assumed checked her and Grover for any injuries. She held the unconscious Percy on the ground as she heard the whispers of the other campers. Apparently a scrawny twelve year old beating a Minotaur wasn't exactly a regular occurrence as the other campers in their brightly coloured orange t-shirts sized up Percy, who was still unconscious.

She heard a girl with dark skin and long pretty braids mutter to Mr. Brunner. "He must be the one." She could feel Percy shift in and out of consciousness with her words. The other campers crowded around them as she could feel Percy move slightly. She heard the concerned whispers of some of the other campers, and the judgement of some others. She could hear the man letting out a sigh as he addressed the dark skinned girl. "Hush, Annabeth." The man chastised her, as if he was used to her comments.

Mr. Brunner cleared his throat at the other demigods. "He's waking, everyone. Give him some space, please." He asked them politely as the various campers moved out of the way. But before anyone could address him, she could feel his conscience slipping away again. The man sighed. "Looks like Mr. Jackson isn't in the best shape at the moment." The half horse man clapped his hands together as commanded two older demigods to his side.

He looked to the two of them with a smile. "Charles, Ethan can you two please go and deliver Percy to the infirmary while I speak to our new camper?" The two older boys nodded as they silently carried Percy away. She really followed them out of instinct, before the half horse man put a hand out in front of her to stop her. "Eurydice." He shook his head at the girl as a warning. "Let's let Percy rest for a while, alright? He will be safe in there, I assure you." He said to her so gently that she couldn't help but believe him, and with the day that they had just had relief was all she wanted right now.

Mr. Brunner looked like he was about to speak again when Annabeth, the girl she had heard earlier spoke up. "Eurydice, like the myth?" She immediately blanked in confusion. "What?" She blurted out stupidly. "Your name. Like the myth, Orpheus and Eurydice." She muttered, like it was obvious. She blushed in embarrassment. "Oh! Uh, yes." She answered her nervously. Mr. Brunner sighed as he looked at the dark haired girl. "Annabeth, let's not hound our new campers with questions on their first day." He warned her, like he knew that her curiosity was inevitable.

The girl only smirked in response. "No promises, Chiron." She said to the older man as she and the other campers walked away. Eurydice's gaze then turned to him in confusion. "Who's Chiron?" She murmured in confusion. Grover chimed in helpfully. "Chiron, is Mr. Brunner's real name. He's the camp activities director at—" He was about to say more as Mr— no Chiron interrupted him. "Let's not overwhelm the poor girl, Grover. We talk more once your friend wakes up. Make sure that there aren't anymore lasting injuries on you." He said cautiously.

She nodded slightly in agreement. "Right..." She was already exhausted and she wasn't even the one who had killed the Minotaur. She still felt the glass piercing at her skin slightly sometimes when she moved. She winced as Chiron, watched her with a kind smile on his face. She was still trying to wrap her head around what he was. After finding out Grover was a... wait what did he call himself. A Satyr?

Right, after finding out about Grover being a satyr, half goat or something. She had thought nothing else would surprise her. But nothing could prepare her for any of this. Grover looked at her with an attempt at a reassuringly smile. "Let's go wait for Percy to wake up, alright? I know where the infirmary is." He said with a nod as he ushered her towards one of the many buildings surrounding the camp.

It felt like ages while Percy was asleep in the infirmary. In the meantime, another camper patched her wounds up with bandages and a clear warning to not get into another car crash as her and Grover had attempted to explain what had happened to them. They were in the other room as Percy recovered where the infirmary beds were situated. She saw Annabeth come into the infirmary quickly and came back out when Grover had left to go grab her some food. She eyed her the other girl in confusion as Annabeth attempted to smile at her. "I think I like you better already, Eurydice. At least you don't drool in your sleep." She muttered as she turned away from of the infirmary.

She watched the girl walk away as she blinked again in confusion. What was that about? And why was she talking about drooling in your sleep? She'll be the first to admit that she felt like she was missing a crucial piece of information here. Grover soon came back with scraps of some food he mentioned they had leftovers of. She took a bite out of a sandwich gratefully, she hadn't eaten anything all day other than those cookies.

She felt a sharp reminder as she remembered her mom. She hoped that she had managed to get out of there and leave. But... oh god. Poor Sally. She can't believe that they saw Percy's mom die right in front of them. Sure, it didn't look like she was dead. But the Minotaur had gone out the same way. She remembers the furious look on Percy's face after he recovered from the initial devastation over what happened to his mother. She swallowed hard, she really hoped that her mom was okay.

She was probably back home by now, working a nine-to-five and waiting for her to come back home at the end of the summer like she had promised. Oddly she hadn't felt Sally's presence slipping away when she had disappeared into the dust. Usually she felt the presence of... something else when someone or something was dying or unconscious. She had discovered it as a child, it was weird at first. That she didn't have to touch anyone's pulse to figure out if they were still breathing or not. She just assumed that it was purely a coincidence that she could feel something whenever someone... died.

The first time she felt it was in the hospital after she had gotten deathly ill from a flu going around their class in Kindergarten. She hadn't thought much of it then. The lives she felt slipping away as nurses rushed over to the next room over, where the man in there was dead on arrival. She wasn't scared at first, but now she was the more she thought about it. She tried to wrack her brain for any of the gods who'd coincide with one of those premonitions. She had felt the familiar sensation of a comfort she couldn't understand back then.

But now as she remembered, it terrified her. It didn't look like to her that there were any gods represented like that in the cabins she had seen briefly. She couldn't even think of who her father could be. She remembered all of the other gods, yet she couldn't think of who possibly was hers. She had some idea that her father could have something to do with death... but after overhearing some whispers from the other campers, that was frowned upon as no god to due with it had a throne on Olympus, whatever that meant.

She really wasn't sure what any of this meant, but all she knew is that she really didn't want to meet her father. Something in her heart was screaming at her that nothing about this was right. That somehow she'd wake up the next day and magically be back at home like nothing happened. Grover seemed to notice her melancholy, as he looked over at her with worry in his eyes. "Eurydice, are you okay?" He asked her nervously. She sighed and shrugged. "I'm okay. I'm just... worried."

Grover nodded to her in agreement. "Yeah, about Percy?" He assumed. She winced. "Yeah, kinda. About Percy and.. everything." Grover winced in response. "Right... Chiron will explain entering to you when he wakes up. It'll be easier with the both of you awake for it." She nodded. "Right..." She winced as she took a small bite out of the sandwich she had been given. Somehow, she didn't feel hungry anymore.

She offered the sandwich to Grover, who stared at it hungrily. "Want it? I'm not hungry." She muttered as she held out the sandwich to him. He stared at her in concern. "Are you sure?" He murmured in concern, but she just nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm too nervous to eat." She attempted to smile, but it came out all awkward instead. Grover smiled brightly. "Thanks, Eurydice." He took the sandwich gratefully.

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FINALLY PERCY WOKE up almost an hour  later. She sighed in relief once she heard the familiar sounds of his breathing. Grover and her were in front of his bed in the infirmary, right at his side as he drearily woke up. She could hear him inhaling softly as he rustled around in the infirmary bed. Grover was the first to speak out of the two of them. "It's okay." He reassured him. "You're safe." The older boy said to Percy as they heard the crows from outside cawing. Percy shakily looked around the room, his eyes landing on the Minotaur horn on the large table beside the bed.

She sighed in relief as she stared at Percy. "You're really lucky you killed that thing, you could have died." She saw the light die a little in his eyes as his eyes drifted towards the horn again. "It really happened." He said in shock. Grover sat by the bed carefully."Well it's a big deal to kill a monster like that-" He carefully explained. "So, I wanted everyone to know-" Percy interrupted him. "Did you see it?" She immediately winced, remembering what had happened to Sally. She couldn't imagine being Percy right now. But then again, she wasn't even really sure if her mother had escaped in time to get out of the storm.

Percy looked so weak in the bed. "Did you see it? See what happened to my mom?" He sounded so tired and upset that it hurt her too. Grover nodded solemnly. "Yeah, we did." She shared a look with the older boy, remembering how Sally had turned into dust. She had grown up around that woman, she was practically like a second parent to her. But she couldn't even begin to imagine how Percy felt, he watched his mom die.

What was weird about it was that she didn't feel the usual snip of death when she had disappeared. She hasn't felt the Minotaur either, so maybe it was just something she couldn't sense. "I'm... sorry. For everything.." Grover muttered at the other boy as Percy looked away from the two of them. "Grover- it isn't your fault." She sighed as she grabbed her friend's hand. He shook his head at her softly. "My job was to get you two here safely. Maybe if I had told you both the truth sooner, Percy's mom would still be here—" He sounded ashamed of himself, disappointed that he let this happen even if it was clearly not really anyone's fault.

Percy just looked even more upset at him. "Please... stop." Grover winced. "I know this isn't easy but I wanna talk about it." He said softly. She sighed at Grover's words. "Hey- let's not push him okay?" She muttered under her breath as they watched Percy stand up, sighing as he pulled his pants on, to which she quickly looked away out of respect. Grover stared at her in confusion as she did that, to which she shot him a look that said he shouldn't say anything.

Percy seemed oblivious to their silent conversation. "Your job was to get me here alive. So your job is done." He spat at Grover as he finished putting his pants on, to which she sighed in relief at. "Wait, where are you going?" She asked him in concern as he stood up towards the door. "Percy-" Grover tried to stop him. But the other boy seemed to be too stubborn. "It was so important I get here 'cause my father's a god. So I'm gonna go find him." He finished as he left the room with a swing of the door.

She immediately winced. Grover looked concerned. "Yeah. but it isn't that... simple." Before he could finish his sentence Percy already left the room. She sighed deeply. "He doesn't know that the gods don't live here... doesn't he." She knew how stubborn Percy could be to assume something, and this was yet again one of those instances. Grover sighed too. "Yeah, oh gods. What are we going to do with him?" He sounded tired of this.

She winced slightly in response. "I really don't know. Let's go follow him, before he... does something he can't take back." Grover nodded in agreement as they both knew how Percy could be. They shared a worried look and started to frantically exit the infirmary. As soon as the two started quickly running outside to find him, they heard the yell of an older man. "Peter Johnson is here!" He yelled out to someone in annoyance. She breathed in shakily when as she and Grover finally made it over to them. "Oh... god. My lungs..." She inhaled sharply, today wasn't a good day for her to be asthmatic.

Percy winced awkwardly. "Oh-kay. That.. isn't really my name. I guess I'm looking for the office?" He said in confusion, really not sure how he was going to look for his father. The man just laughed, ignoring Percy's words for a second, and stared at her questioningly instead.

He had sunglasses on his face that reflected the light in them, so she was staring right at her own reflection in them. "Pfft. God, don't you mean the gods girl?" He asked her condescendingly. She blinked awkwardly. "What?" She muttered in confusion. "Who's this one, Grover?" He asked the boy in annoyance, motioning his head at Eurydice. Grover sighed. "That's Eurydice Ramirez. She's also new-" He explained to him as the man interrupted and yelled out again. "Elise Rodriguez is here too!" He sounded annoyed as he yelled that.

She stared at him in absolute confusion. She wasn't sure if she was impressed by how careless he was or not. "Uh- that's not my name, sir." She swallows nervously. The man seemed to roll his eyes at her mentally. Percy tried to get the man's attention again. "I'm trying to find whoever's in charge so—" Grover quickly interrupted him. "Wait, wait, wait! Percy, um. Mr. D, Camp Director." He pointed at the bearded man in the sunglasses. He didn't look like someone in charge of an entire camp... honestly she would have trusted Mr. Brunner, or well now Chiron more than him. She was still getting used to the fact Mr. Brunner was Chiron.

Thinking about what his name implied made her realize that he had probably mentored every other demigod in the greek myths at some point. From Achilles and Patroclus to Jason and Herakles. It was daunting to think that she was just like the demigods in the stories she grew up loving. She felt especially a heartbreak for Achilles and Patroclus, knowing how their story ended the fact she knew it was real made their ending worse. She still wasn't trusting whoever this Mr. D was though.

Grover sighed. "Mr. D, this is Percy Jackson and Eurydice Ramirez." He introduced them nervously. The man looked at him in annoyance. "Yeah, Grover I heard them the first time." He muttered. Percy interrupted looking annoyed. "Yeah, but did you?" She winced. "Maybe we shouldn't start picking fight with anyone Percy—" She muttered carefully to him. Grover pulled Percy away from the man. "She's right. You really don't wanna start anything with this guy." He warned him.

Percy scoffed. "He's starting with me!" He pointed at the guy as Grover stopped him. "Percy. The D is for Dionysus." He warned him nervously. "Oh my god." Eurydice's eyes went wide as she stared at the man. "That's Dionysus?" Her eyes were wide in confusion. "I'd always thought that he'd... y'know. Look... different." She whispered, wincing as Percy seemed to realize what they meant. "Wait, what do you mean by Dionysus? You mean the god- like the god Dionysus?" He stares at the man in equal shock.

"No way..." He whispered to the others slightly. "Yes!" Grover hastily confirmed with a nod as Percy looked at the man again. "Excuse me. your Highness?" He said to the man attempting to be respectful. She had to bite down on her lip to stop herself from bursting out into laughter. Grover had an exasperated look on his face as she tried her best not to laugh. Mr. D's eyebrows narrowed as he looked at Percy, then at her. "Oh." He eyed them curiously.

Percy continued nervously. "I think my dad may be around here somewhere. I don't know how to ask for him. I don't- I don't even know his name." She immediately winced, he didn't seem to have gotten the memo that their parents were on an entirely different plane. Which made the fact that Mr. D was here at all... confusing. The dirty blonde continued, the amusement in the Camp Director's face growing. "But I think I should see him. I just..." He trailed off. "I think I really need that right now. Can you help me?" He asked.

She could barely hide her confusion as Mr. D sat up straighter at his seat in the table, setting his can of diet coke onto the table. "Actually..." He started. "I think I can." He smiled at him. "Son." She could not hide the confusion on her face as Grover immediately face palmed from beside her. "What the hell?" She whispered in confusion. She didn't see the resemblance at all. Unless... he was messing with him. Oh gods, he is messing with him!

Percy blinked. "Dad?" He sounded so confused. Mr. D just smiled like he won the lottery. "Yes. Peter." The man grinned, as Percy shook his head at him slightly. "It's Percy." The older man grinned. "Exactly." He said. "Now before we get to know each other there's something very important I want you to do for me, okay?" He asked the boy gently. Oh wow, he was seriously a bad actor. How did Percy fall for this? She was just currently too dumbfounded to speak right now.

Percy nodded as the man started to grin even wider. "In the galley. There is a bottle of 1985 Château Haut-Brion. Will you go fetch that for me?" The man batted his eyes innocently. She nearly laughed, but everything in her was holding herself back from doing so. "Is that really all you have to say to me?" Percy asked him in confusion.

Grover quickly interrupted. "Hey, um. Mr. D- even if Percy was-" The man interrupted. "Uh. uh. uh, bup!" He stopped him. "Grover, quiet, please." He told him. Eurydice tried to hide her laughter. "Uhm. Percy I dont think that's your—" The god in the hawaiian shirt interrupted her now. "Ah, ah. ah! Shut up Elsie, Elise or whatever!" He reprimanded her. "Do you really wanna interrupt your friend meeting his dear old dad?" She blinked in confusion. "Quiet, please! This is a nice moment. Don't ruin it." Grover looked completely done with the man.

Mr. D pointed at another building. "The galley is right down that path. Grab that bottle and I'll talk to you about whatever you