CHAPTER FIVE ━━ HOW TO AVOID CERTAIN DEATH

SO FAR, EURYDICE WASN'T HAVING A GREAT DAY. It was the opposite in fact. And she is not lying about this actually, things only seemed to be getting worse. And despite Percy's best efforts to comfort her over it, she still couldn't shake the horrified looks on Chiron and Mr. D's faces when they realized who her father was. Grover looked like he had swallowed a lemon with how shocked he looked. Even everything her mother prepared her for about her dad didn't prepare her for this. She hadn't even met him yet and he was already causing issues for her.

So now it was her fault that she was even born? And Percy too? How could that be fair? Their dads were the ones who decided to have them. She didn't ask to be born. She didn't want any of this, she would have done anything to run faraway and never come back. But when she thought of leaving Percy alone that left a sour taste in her mouth and she hated herself for even have thought of it. She wasn't sure if it was the guilt or how selfish she felt for thinking of just leaving. She couldn't physically do it, she didn't have it in her.

She doesn't why she is the way that she is, but it stuck. And the other thing that was making today worse. To make matters worse, she had discovered that her father had kidnapped her best friend's mother and was keeping her captive in the underworld. Which she didn't fail to understand the irony of. Chiron had sent her and Percy off to go find this oracle in some dark creepy attic while him and Mr. D spoke in hushed whispers.

First of all, what the fuck? Why did her father of all people have to kidnap Sally? Seriously, it could have been anyone else. Why does this always happen to her? She feels like her luck might be changing and then it's gone just like that! And then it takes a whole 180 leaving her completely mortified. So now she isn't sure if Hades kids attracts more attention or sheer unluckiness, cause right now it was the unluckiness.

Unfortunately for her, there aren't any other Hades kids who exist in the world. So she highly doubts that she is the only unlucky one if whatever happened to those other kids were anything to go off of. She sighed to herself as she and Percy made it up to the steps of the attic. She kicked a rock on the ground slightly ajar in boredom.

Percy coughed. "So... your dad kidnapped my mom. That's..." She frowned deeply in response. "Weird. It's... really weird. I'm... really sorry Percy." Eurydice had a guilty look on her face, somehow feeling responsible for this whole thing. Maybe if she had realized Sally hadn't died sooner or if she would have found out about her dad sooner he wouldn't have kidnapped her. She feels a lump in her throat at the thought of Hades, the man who kidnapped Sally at the assumption that Percy was the Lightning thief.

Percy narrowed his eyes at her in confusion. "Why are you apologizing?" He asked her in confusion. "You have nothing to apologize for. It's not your fault he's your dad, or that my dad is my dad." He muttered insistently. "I don't care who your dad is Eury." He said to her softly. "You're my best friend. And we're in this together." He smiled at her reassuringly. Despite the fear in her chest, she nodded slightly. "Yeah. We are in this together. Promise?" She asked hesitantly.

He tried to make an attempt to smile at her, even in their situation. "Yeah, always. See? Now doesn't that make you feel better? Let's hurry and find this oracle lady, this place is giving me the creeps." He shuddered as they finally stepped into the dark room. Percy pushed the door slightly ajar and it creaked as it slowly opened. The two demigods were completely silent as they stepped across the room. The floorboards creaked with old use with every step they took. She could feel the whole house creaking from underneath them. Clearly, this place was very old.

They kept walking forward in the darkly lit room as they approached a dead looking woman with unruly light hair grayed with age. Hesitantly Percy stepped towards her, Eurydice standing slightly behind him in hesitation. "Hi, I'm Percy. It's nice to meet you." He said to the dead looking woman as the window behind her illuminated her face. "Good talk." She muttered miserably under her breath as the old woman didn't answer them. Percy winced slightly. "We were told a quest isn't a quest, until you've said so?" He mutters trailing off in confusion.

She cleared her throat. "Chiron told us. And he's never wrong." She explained. Percy looked a little creeped out by the old woman, she kind of looked like a corpse by how still she was. "It's weird that we have to ask you that considering you're a Halloween decoration." He said without thinking. She immediately gave him a look of annoyance. "You and your big mouth." She murmured to him nervously as they heard the old woman suddenly start to move in her rocking chair. A light gasp of her raspy voice was heard as she started to move.

Percy and her stared at each other nervously. "Oh, geez." Percy muttered under his breath. "Oh god." Eurydice sounded equally as concerned. The old woman suddenly groaned softly, sounding like a wailing siren or ghostly one as her neck slowly snapped up to look at them. She stepped back fearfully, flinching slightly in fear.

Percy's eyes went wide as he worriedly muttering. "You seem busy. We'll be back—" He said frantically. The two were about to run out the door until the oracle's breathing started to shallow and rasp as dark green smoke floated out of her mouth and transformed into a cloud of green smoke.

That, what she had assumed guessed was the prophecy that they were looking for. In the dark green smoke, a face appeared. She blinked in confusion as she saw Percy's abusive stepfather appear as the face in the vision. "Oh, come on!" Percy complained, scoffing in annoyance. She felt bad for him that of all forms the oracle's message decided to take was Smelly Gabe.

She shuddered slightly when she recalled the smell of Percy's apartment with Gabe inside it. She made an uncomfortable winced and patted Percy's shoulder in sympathy. "That's rough buddy." She muttered to him as the vision became clearer. She watched the green smoke in concern. This probably would've been way cooler if the vision didn't have Smelly Gabe's face. Suddenly the vision of Percy's stepfather began to speak.

Honestly, it would have been funny if Percy's stepfather wasn't a piece of shit. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned." Percy nodded slightly, looking at her in confusion. "Your Dad?" He asked in confusion. She shrugged in response. "I guess so." She hummed in concern, her hand at the side of her chin. The vision continued, looking annoyed at them interrupting him.

Eurydice smiled apologetically at the vision as it continued. "And you shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned." It finished in Smelly Gabe's old new jersey accent. For a prophecy so foreboding it wasn't very horrifying coming from Percy's stepfather, a man her and her mother constantly talked badly about. She still wasn't sure why Sally had married him.

The two demigods went quiet again as the oracle sprout out more nonsense. "You shall be betrayed by one you call a friend. But your truest friend will be there to the end." She could feel her blood run cold at that. Betrayed by the one you call a friend? That's bad. That's so bad. Oh god. She felt the anxiety build up in her chest again. Someone was betraying them? But it made no sense! No way, she can't just believe that they'll just be betrayed like that. That.. that doesn't seem fair.

She knows she'd never betray Percy. But that didn't mean he wouldn't think that she'd betray him. She frowned deeply, a constricting feeling was weighing heavily on her chest now. Before she could think anymore the oracle started speaking again. The last few words of the prophecy. "And you will fail to save what matters most in the end." She could see Percy grimacing slightly. The silence that fell between the two demigods was deadly.

What the hell was that last part supposed to even mean? She didn't understand how she was somehow supposed to convince her dad to stop this war? Was she the one supposed to convince him to set Sally free? What does any of this even mean! She can feel the anxiety creep up on her as she swallows the lump in her throat threatening to build. She swallows anxiously, her heart thumping in her chest. Percy seemed to understand what parts of the prophecy meant, while Eurydice felt a lot more clueless than she had earlier.

There was a complete silence between the two demigods as they attempted to process what they had just heard when the vision disappeared into green smoke. "But what's the rest supposed to mean?" Percy said in confusion, sounding extremely lost and frustrated at the riddle. Eurydice winced slightly. "It's a prophecy, Percy. I don't think we're supposed to figure it out right away." She muttered with a sigh. "Also it makes no sense." She said quickly at the end.

Percy looked like he was deep in thought. "The truest friend, that must be you. Right?" He asked her for confirmation. She blinked in confusion, her eyes softening. "You think... you that I'm your truest friend?" She asked him, like she needed to hear it from his actual mouth. Percy looked confused. "Yeah? Who else?" Her smile softened slightly. She smiled widely at his words. "Thanks, Percy." She said softly to him. He smiled back at her brightly. "Of course. Always." He said.

Percy took a deep breath slightly. "Well now that we've got that part figured out, what about the rest?" He grimaced slightly. "Why wouldn't they make these things easier?" He complained. She only shrugged in response. "I have no idea." She muttered out miserably. "But I think that's the whole point of all of this..." She trailed off. And with a shared frown the two demigods left the room.

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A little while later, Percy and her were standing next to Chiron and Mr. D as they decided who they would be picking for the quest. "The oracle has confirmed what we suspected." Chiron said loudly to all of the other campers standing around them waiting for the two forbidden kids to choose another member of their quest. It was a little intimidating to see so many older demigods, who she assumed were the heads of their cabin. Annabeth was the only one out of all of them who looked significantly younger than the rest of them.

Interrupting her thoughts Chiron continued to address the demigods. "That this quest will proceed toward the Underworld. Where you will confront the god, who had rebelled against his brothers. Hades." Eurydice was slightly grateful for the fact that Chiron had chosen to not let the other camp know of her parentage just yet. He had told her it would be confidential to only him, Grover, Percy, Mr. D and to whoever got onto the quest with them. The half goat man had seemed stressed out about the fact that there was nowhere to put Eurydice at camp.

He had apologized sympathetically when he realized that camp didn't have a cabin that would take her. How could Percy have one but not her? It didn't seem really fair to her that only some of the gods got cabins and others didn't. Chiron himself wasn't even sure where they would house her. The Hermes cabin was getting too crowded, but making her a permanent resident wasn't an issue. Luke seemed to be all for the idea when Chiron brought it up to him as a possibility, so for now she still had all of her stuff on an empty bunkbed that had been pity given to her.

She continued to listen to Chiron's words as she fidgeted slightly in her spot. "The entrance to Hades's domain lies under the city of Los Angeles." So her dad had been only a 40 hour drive away from her all these years? She hadn't expected that. "This is where you will journey to. Time is short." He looked at Eurydice and Percy worriedly. Then he cleared his throat and continued. "I have selected our most compelling candidates, from which you will choose two to join you on this quest and ensure that we succeed." The old man finished.

Percy and her shared a look. They had already decided who they were going to bring. It just felt oddly right, to her at least. Percy had mostly agreed out of pity for Annabeth who had been promised the quest. It would just be sad if she hadn't been chosen after being promised for so long. "Annabeth." Percy said. Chiron turned to look at her and Percy in surprise. "We choose Annabeth." Eurydice said in agreement.

The old man frowned for a moment. "Customarily, one waits to at least hear a name or two before choosing." Eurydice winced slightly, looking at the other candidates. "Sorry." She whispered apologetically. "Are you sure you don't wanna hear more?" Chiron asked the two in concern. She already knew what she thought, now it was just Percy's turn to say it. He was the one being accused of being the lighting thief after all. "This thing. Zeus's master bolt. We need to get it back right?" The boy asked Chiron.

The man nodded in response. "And it's gonna be hard to get, yes?" Percy asked. Chiron nodded. "Extraordinarily." He muttered. "And if the mission required someone to push me down a flight of stairs for it to succeed you'd want someone who won't hesitate when they do it." Percy finished as Chiron's eyebrows raised up at him in surprise. That wouldn't have been the way she'd have worded it, but the sentiment was there. Eurydice laughed nervously. "No one's getting pushed down the stairs though. It's an analogy." She confirmed.

Chiron looked surprised, but nodded. "The first quest-mate shall be Annabeth Chase." The man announced as Annabeth stared at the two of them slightly. Percy stared right back at the girl, while Eurydice just blanked out for a second. The dark braided girl's gaze was sharp and piercing, like she was trying to scope out their intentions. She just gulped slightly, she could never handle anyone staring at her for too long. She wasn't equipped for scrutiny.

She'd assume the other girl would be suspicious of her for being Hades daughter of all the gods when she found out. Chiron was bound to tell her now that they were on a quest together. By the horrified looks on Mr. D and Chiron's faces she could already tell being a child of Hades wasn't a good thing at camp. She just hopes that doesn't tarnish any sort of friendship she could have had with the girl.

Eurydice never really had a lot of female friends. Sure, there were girls who included her in things just because she was another girl. But she never had a best friend who understood being female too. Sure, she loves Percy. But sometimes he just doesn't get it. He's trying to get it, but he really doesn't. The same with Grover. Neither of them really get her in that way. In all the other ways that it matters they are probably the people who understand her the most. But not on the topic of being a different gender.

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LATER THEY found Grover picking up what seemed to be poop from one of the horses at camp. Percy spoke first awkwardly. "Hey." He muttered. Grover turned around to look at them in surprise. "Oh, hey. Sorry I missed your selection ceremony..." He muttered apologetically as he attempted to pick up more of the horses remains. "I've been, you know... shoveling his poop." He sighed deeply as the horse whined. Eurydice winced. "That must stink." Her eyes widened as she realized she shouldn't have said that. "Not that it stinks- I mean it stinks!" She quickly corrected herself frantically.

Grover chuckled slightly. "It's fine." Percy tried to not laugh as hard as he could. He went back to look at Grover apologetically. "Yeah, sorry about that. I guess Mr. D wasn't too happy you don't me about my mom?" He asked in confusion. "No." Grover replied quickly, looking tired. "No, he was not." He replied sarcastically. "So. who's you choose to go with you two?" He asked them in confusion as he stopped shoveling the poop for a second.

Her and Percy shared a look. "You." Percy said suddenly. Grover laughed like he didn't believe them. "Funny, no seriously. Who'd you choose?" He asked them in confusion. Eurydice just smiled. "We just told you. We chose you." She muttered, his eyes widened in confusion. "Why..?" He sounded worried. They shared a look as they remembered was the vision said. "I trust you. Eurydice always did... but I just.." Percy trailed off, clearly an apology for having pushed their friend away on his lips. "And.. and right now nothings more important than that." He smiled hesitantly at Grover, hope in his eyes that'd he find some way to forgive him.

Grover's lips immediately changed from a frown into a big bright smile at his realization. "I'm gonna pack the best snacks." He grinned at them excitedly. Eurydice chuckled at his words. "We're counting on it buddy." She patted him on the shoulder as she smiled a real smile. One she hadn't done in a while. She was glad that she had Percy and Grover in this mess. But she was also glad that Percy and Grover weren't fighting anymore.

She didn't blame Grover for what happened, but she understood why Percy was upset. She just didn't want them to fight anymore. So she was glad. Back at the Hermes cabin she was getting ready to pack her bags. Some of the other Hermes cabin members stared at her curiously as she finished properly packing. She jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck on that quest, alright?" She sighed in relief when she realized it was just Luke. "Oh, yeah. Right, thanks." She muttered hesitantly.

Luke gave her a look of sympathy. "It's normal for a demigod to be nervous on their first quest. So, don't sweat it, alright?" She nodded at him. "Yeah." She finished zipping up her backpack as she managed to fit the last remaining items into it. "Oh, by the way." Luke muttered. "I've got something for you." She stared at him in confusion. "What?" She blinked. He chuckled as passed her a notebook. "Noticed you're not much of a talker. Maybe this'll help you. You know, put your thoughts down onto paper." She took it hesitantly.

She smiled at Luke slightly. "Thanks." He nodded at her. "And hey, when you come back. You'll always have a place here in the Hermes' Cabin, no matter who your parent is." He smiled her, patted her on the shoulder as he walked away. She stared at the notebook questioningly, but stuffed it into her backpack. She trusted Luke, and it was a nice gesture. At least until Chiron figured out where she would go at camp, at least she knew