their age playing games on the arcades machines, and racing games together as oddly familiar music blared in the background. She could see adults playing poker at the long tables situated at the back of the room. All of them had oddly different kinds of clothing. Some people looked like they were wearing outfits from the 80s, while others looked like they wore 70s and 90s outfits.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. These people must really like their vintage stuff. She stared at the millions of arcade machines and games in the front of the room. "Holy shit." She muttered, completely starstruck. Imagine how many of those video games she could play! It'd only be for a little bit! It wouldn't take too much time out of their quest if she just got one teensy-weensy high score! And they they'd go back to the quest.

It wouldn't take that long! Grover held his hand over her mouth again. "Please stop swearing! Who taught you to swear!" He exclaimed frantically. Eurydice shrugged in response. "My mother?" She said questioningly. Grover ran his fingers through his hair stressfully. "Eurydice. Please." He sighed deeply.

She laughed nervously. "Oops. Sorry, Grover." She muttered sheepishly. The satyr rolled his eyes at her fondly. Eurydice noticed how the lights were dimmed to a pink colour. Aphrodite had nearly ruined her favourite colour for her. Needless to say the stained glass windows of the lotus casino fixed her newfound dislike for pink.

Percy stared at the casino as awestruck as Eurydice was. "I know we're supposed to be saving the world, but would it be unprofessional if we just hung out here for a bit?" He looked mesmerized by the place. Eurydice narrowed an eyebrow as she looked up to see one of the large trees in the room look suspicious like a lotus flower.

The trees colours were like cherry blossom trees, but the flowers looked less like blossoms and more like what the lotus flowers appeared to look like. Eurydice nodded in agreement as she looked away from the tree. "I'd take staying in this place for 70 years over saving the world." She muttered as she watched a few kids play pac-man a few meters away from her.

Annabeth placed her hands on her and Percy's shoulders to stop them from running right towards the arcades. She shook her head at them with a sigh. "We find Hermes, we get him to hook us up with a ride to Los Angeles and a plan to get into the Underworld, and we are out of here ten seconds later." Eurydice pouted slightly. "Aww.." She frowned.

Percy laughed sheepishly. "I was kidding." He defended himself, but it was clear he was lying. As they were about to walk inside of the main area of the casino, Grover stopped them. "Wait, hang on." He said. Percy looked at hiked expectantly. "What?" He asked him in confusion. "Your moms told you all the stories. Right?" He looked at Eurydice and Percy for an answer.

Eurydice immediately blanked out. "Uh.... I like to think she did most of them!" She shrugged hopelessly. Grover sighed softly. "Did either of you read the Odyssey?" He asked. Eurydice shook her head. "Uh... yes. But I forgot." Annabeth sighed deeply. "Seriously?" Eurydice grimaced. "Hey! I'm sorry I have bad memory okay! I've been more concerned with trying to stay alive in my defense!" She exclaimed.

Percy cut in. "I read the graphic novel." He said. Grover and Annabeth stared at him in concern. There was a beat of silence before Percy muttered. "It counts." He shrugged. Eurydice tapped her foot onto the ground along with the beat of the song playing in the casino absentmindedly. She swears she's heard this song before, but where?

Grover started explaining the Odyssey to them. "Odysseus lands on a beach. There's these guys who've forgotten where they came from, forgot everything that was important to them, and they got that way because they ate..." Eurydice's brain finally clicked, and she remembered something she had long forgotten. "The lotus flowers." She answered with a snap of her fingers.

Grover nodded. "If we go in there and then forget everything, that would be bad on a number of levels." He grimaced nervously. Percy frowned. "But if Hermes is in there, though, then what choice do we have?" Eurydice nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I don't think there's any other way out of this. Unless we just call Hermes up." She shrugged. Percy glanced over at Annabeth. "What do you think, Wise Girl?"

Annabeth looked surprised at the nickname but smiled slightly. "Just don't eat anything." She said, looking at Grover specifically. The three of them started walking inside as Grover attempted to process what Annabeth had just said. He narrowed at eyebrow at them. "Wait, why were you looking at me when you said that?" He followed them out a few seconds late.

They walked through the crowds of the lotus casino. There were at least more than fifty people inside of the entire building itself. It looked massive. No wonder so many people were at this hotel. She passed a claw machine and stopped for a second to look at it. There was a young girl around her age at the claw machine attempting to grab a large plushie.

She immediately stopped moving stare at it. Her eyes lit up as her eyes landed on a large Hello Kitty plushie. She put her hand over the glass of the claw machine. "Oh my gods." She stared at the plushie longingly. She hadn't even noticed that the others had passed her at this point. She stared at the stuffed animal for a second.

She didn't know what was coming over her. But she really. really wanted it.

A few seconds later, someone had finally realized she had strayed a little too far away from the group. She felt a someone's hand dragging her away by the arm to get away from the claw machine. She gasped loudly as Annabeth pulled her away by the arm, she attempted to get her to let go but she couldn't. "Nooooooooo—" She complained loudly as the other girl dragged her away.

Annabeth sighed deeply. "Come on, Death Girl we've got more important things to do than stare at claw machines all day." She sounded She dragged her by the arm softly while Eurydice pouted in response.

Eurydice tried to rip her hand out of Annabeth's gasp again. "But she was so cute!" She pouted. Annabeth sighed. "We'll get you one some other time. Okay?" Her eyes lit up in response. "Really?" The other girl laughed softly. "Yes, really. Let's just go, alright?" Eurydice nodded enthusiastically, relenting slightly. "Okay." The dark haired girl didn't let go of her hand until they got back to Percy and Grover.

She couldn't help but feel a weird feeling in her chest when Annabeth called her "Death Girl," she hadn't ever received a nickname before from someone who wasn't Percy or Grover before. She smiled despite the weird feeling. Aphrodite was wrong, romance is overrated. Whatever she was talking about made no sense. She'd probably be fine with never getting married if it meant she could be with her friends for the rest of her life.

Grover stared at the casino in awe. "This place is a lot bigger than it looked from the outside. He could be anywhere." He realized with a small sigh at his lips. Annabeth sighed, trying to come up with an idea of what to do. "Let's split up." She said, sounding like they had no other option. Eurydice grimaced. "I don't think that's a good idea. When you split up in horror movies it never ends well." She shook her head, grimacing slightly.

She stared out at the crowds of people you could get lost in. The rows of people at the poker machines just seemed to be getter longer and longer. Percy looked at Annabeth in shock, raising an eyebrow. "I thought we didn't do that anymore. Also, you guys have seen him before, but me and Eurydice haven't. So we aren't gonna be much help alone." He said.

Eurydice nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I'm not too fond of going up to every vaguely older man I meet and asking them if they're Hermes." They'd probably think she was a crazy person if she did that. She wasn't really keen on getting sent to a mental asylum anytime soon, please and thank you! Annabeth looked like she was deep in thought, taking a deep breath in as she thought of what to do. Finally she came up with something.

The daughter of Athena cleared her throat. "Go check that side of the floor. I'll take Percy this way. And you'll take Eurydice that way." She told Grover pointing towards the right side of the casino. "One way or the other, we meet back in the lobby in 20 minutes." She said. Grover nodded slightly. Eurydice however wasn't as comforted. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Alone, Grover and Eurydice are two of the most reliable people. But together, the two of them tend to.... get distracted more than they'd like. It was a curse, surely. Which was why they never did things without Percy. For some reason they only seemed to have braincells when making sure Percy doesn't make irreversible mistakes.

Usually it ended in them getting so distracted that they forgot what they were even supposed to do in the first place. Percy grimaced, knowing how the two of them are alone. "I don't know. What if something happens?" He asked nervously, fiddling with his hands.

Grover gave her a nervous look. "We'll be fine. Right?" He looked at her for a moment. Eurydice took a few seconds to answer. "Uhhh..." She blanked out for a second. "Yesss..?" Annabeth sighed. "Good enough for me." She muttered. Grover turned to look in the direction they were supposed to be heading in. "What do I say to him if I find him first?" He asked.

Annabeth shook her head at him. "Nothing. Meet me here and you'll take me to him." She told him. Grover nodded slightly. "Yeah. Of course." He said. Eurydice gulped nervously as Grover turned around to go. Hopefully this wouldn't end as badly as she thought it would.

Percy and Annabeth gave her one last look before she followed him. "Hey, we'll see you on the other side, Death Girl. Alright?" Percy said to her, and she couldn't help but want to believe him. She nodded as she smiled softly at him. "Yeah. See you soon Seaweed Brain." She tipped her imaginary hat at him and ran up to Grover.

Grover smiled at her as she ran up to him. "So, let's start searching for Hermes alright?" Eurydice nodded eagerly. "Uh... quick question. What does he look like?" She shrugged hopelessly . "Y'know, just in case I spot him first." She muttered as they started walking together. Grover winced slightly. "I'm like 100% sure that he's literally just Lin Manuel Miranda." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

Eurydice choked on her spit. "WHAT?" She yelled loudly enough that a few of the adults playing poker looked concerned. All of the blood drained from Grover's face as he apologetically dragged Eurydice away from the adults prying eyes. "Dude!" Grover gave her a look of disbelief. "You've gotta be careful around here! If you're a little too loud.. people are gonna get suspicious."

Meanwhile, Eurydice felt like the air had been knocked out of her. "Hermes is Lin Manuel Miranda?" She asked, in absolute disbelief. "No, no, no he's not." She shook her head in denial. Grover sighed deeply. "Yes, yes he is Eurydice. Oh my gods." He sighed again. "He's not. No, no, he's not." She had a hard time believing one of the most genius writers of their time was fucking Hermes.

Eurydice's eye twitched slightly. "You're fucking with me, right?" Grover slapped his hand over her mouth again. "Please! Stop with the swearing Eurydice. Come on." She yelled out a yell that was just muffled into Grover's hand. As soon as she managed to pry his hand off her mouth she muttered. "Oh gods. You aren't lying." Her eyes widened, slightly mortified. Now the fact that Aphrodite look a little bit like Margot Robbie made sense.

She immediately blurted out as she stared at Grover in utter shock. "Are all of the gods famous people?" She asked him seriously, shaking his shoulders. Grover nodded, still confused. "Yes? I guess so???" He muttered, still lost. Eurydice just felt like the most earth shattering news had just been delivered to her.

She could feel her face pale. "Now I think a lot of things I noticed about celebrities make sense." She stared at her own hands in shock as Grover gave her an annoyed look. "Okay, you know what we should just go—" He dragged her softly by the arm down the hallway filled with adults. After a few minutes of looking around, suddenly the hallway began to fill with more and more people.

Until she and Grover were squished in between a crowd of adults and kids around their age. She could feel her head spinning as she attempted to keep up with Grover. There were just so many people that she was trying to keep him. She frantically followed the figure of Grover right in front of her as best as she could. But she could only feel the crowd getting more and more crowded.

In the crowd of people, she could suddenly feel the absence of Grover's hand pulling her fowards. In a flash of light suddenly, she felt herself fall on her own two feet. She groaned in pain as she hit the ground. She had tripped on an untied shoelace. And as soon as she had picked herself back up, Grover was gone. Eurydice could feel the anxiety creep up on her like an old friend. She stared out into the crowd of people, horrified. She was lost. There was no sign of the satyr in sight.

How could she fuck up this badly? All she needed to do was stay with him! She looked around in a panic as the crowd of people cleared up. All she could make out was the crowd clearing up as she felt tears well up in her eyes. There was only one other time she had ever gotten lost in her life. But this time, her mom wasn't here to save her. She was all on her own. And that was horrifying.

She felt completely disoriented as she stared around at the crowd of people she passed as she run with no apparent direction. She felt her heartbeat quicken. She could hear the thumps of her heartbeat in her ears as she frantically searched for Grover. In a state of panic she started yelling out for him. "Grover! Grover! Where are you?" She yelled out fearfully.

She yelled again, but nobody came. "Grover?" She muttered, quieter now. There was no knowing where he was now. He could be completely be on other side of the casino at this point! She wiped the tears in her eyes as she frantically paced around, searching for someone to help her. In a wave of emotions she suddenly stopped walking.

She stopped right beside one of the arcade machines she had been so excited to see earlier. Now all she could feel was the unsettling awareness of her own heartbeat in her chest thumping loudly. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have anywhere to go! Annabeth and Percy were gone and so was Grover. She slid down the wall beside the arcade machines with a heavy sob.

She could feel her breathing quicken as tears flooded from her eyes. She's never been so afraid. She's scared and she just wants to go home. She can't even remember which direction she had come from now! How is she going to get back to the others. She curled in on herself, her head in her hands as she sniffled quietly.

She could hear the loud noises of coins in the slot machines, and kids playing games in the background. But all she felt was scared. She hadn't been truly alone in such a long time that she had no idea what to do with herself. There was always someone there to hold her hand and save her. Now, there was nobody.

She sniffled again as she rested her head in-between her knees. She could hear a shuffling of feet right in front of her. She peeked her head up slightly as she stared at the short figure in her vision. "Um, are you okay?" The little boy asked, a worried expression on his face as he stared at the older girl. She sniffled slightly as she shook her head at the boy.

The boy went to bend down to sit next to her. "What's wrong?" The little boy's eye shined with innocence as he stared at her in worry. He wore a light brown newsboy cap on his head as he scooted over to sit a little closer to her. Eurydice's voice crack as she tried to speak. "I— I lost my friend." She muttered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's stupid." She muttered, shaking her head at him.

The little boy shook her head at him. He wore a dark brown cardigan that looked a little too big for him over his shoulders. "It's not stupid. My sister, she says big feelings are never stupid." He smiled at her softly. Eurydice wiped the tears from her eyes slightly. "Really?" Her voice wobbled slightly as she held her held up a little higher to look at him.

He nodded, smiling at her brightly. "Really." He told her. He held his hand out to hers to shake. "My names Nico, Nico di Angelo." He smiled at her brightly. She felt herself smiling back, despite herself. She shook his hand after a second of silence. The younger boy stared at her for a second. "What's your name?" He asked. Her mind blanked for a second.

She blinked in confusion. She knew her name. Right? She knew her name a few seconds ago. "Thank you Nico." She smiled at him. "Oh.. I'm... I'm." She stared at her hands completely disoriented. "I..." She stuttered. "I don't know." She muttered, completely and utterly unable to remember her own name. No matter how hard she tried, what her name was escaped her.

Nico frowned as he looked at her. "Oh. That's okay. Maybe we can remember together!" He said enthusiastically. "I'll take you to my sister. She'd like you!" He smiled at her as he suddenly stood up. He pulled on her arm like a little brother would to nag her older sister. "Oh. Uh... okay." The girl nodded as the young boy grabbed her hand tightly. "Bianca says you should always hold onto someone's hand in case you get lost."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah.. yeah.. I.. I think someone else told me that too. A long time ago."  Her memory felt foggy every time she tried to remember. Nico squeezed her hand tightly as he dragged her to the arcade machines at the other side of the room to meet his sister.

█⠀⠀⠀. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ RAI SPEAKS!! . . .
              ◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡     Words: 6487

We made it to the lotus casino baby! A lil Nico cameo for you and Eurydice loosing her memories! Jason Grace core fr. Next chapter will have a few more scenes between Eurydice and Bianca and Nico before she's found by the others. Eury's up in here pulling side quests while Annabeth and Percy talk to Hermes.

It was so insanely fun to write this chapter. It took a while but this is the just first part! The second part to the lotus casino episode will be coming soon! Eurydice being flabbergasted by Hermes being Lin is so me coded. I too am a hispanic kid who grew up with Lin's stuff, and I was be as gagged as she was.

Eurydice is not having a good time this chapter 😭 It's just bad luck to even more bad luck for her. We'll see what the gods have in store for her next time! Thank you for reading!