# 𝑰 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒅 / 𝑨 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍
HEROES OF OLYMPUS FANFICTION
✩ risasprings, 2024 ✷

CHAPTER FOUR ━━ ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR GAMES

THIS WASN'T THE FIRST time Eurydice had played the war games Camp Jupiter annually hosted. As she marched to the war games she kept the events of the day on repeat in her mind. From meeting Percy again. To the inevitability that once Annabeth found out that she's been lying to her and keeping Percy's whereabouts a secret this entire time, she'll be angry.

And she knows her girlfriend. She's stubborn, and Eurydice is the opposite of that, she's compliant. More than Annabeth ever will be. She accepts the worse possibility so she can't get disappointed. Maybe that was way they worked so well together, but she really wasn't sure anymore. All that she can hold onto is the fact that Percy's here, and alive. Not dead like she had previously thought.

She knows she should have felt him die, but she was scared that maybe she was wrong. That for once, her abilities would fail her and she couldn't feel the first love of her life meet his fate. She couldn't be more glad that he was alive actually. But it just made everything entirely worse. And she means, entirely. Fuck, she doesn't even know what she's going to do if she gets an Iris message while she's still at Camp Jupiter.

She could ghost Annabeth for a while, maybe that'd work? No, she's too smart for that. Annie would either assume she's dead or that she's ignoring her. Eurydice can't handle putting her through that. So, she needs to come up with a better way to handle all of this or else everything is going to fall apart and— She's just getting in her own head again. This always happens.

Whenever she overthinks it's like she can't stop. Even if she wanted to. It's gotten better over the years. But the only reason it ever got better was because of Percy and Annabeth. Their constant reassurance didn't make her feel so small. The overthinking didn't get to her when she was with them. But now... it was a lot worse. Considering... the circumstance.

But she made a choice. Eurydice made a choice to help her little brother, who deserved so much more than this bullshit. She needs to hold herself together, if not for her. But for him and Hazel.

She stood in the armoury, she hadn't had time to grab any of her usual armour before. So she just decided she'd grab her usual gear quickly and march back to the others back at Temple Hill before the games started. Troy had chosen to go with Hazel. So, now it was just Eurydice and Frank grabbing their armour before the games started. Frank was oddly quiet, he seemed to be deep in thought as he picked up his armour.

Eurydice narrowed an eyebrow at him. He was usually much more talkative than this. "You okay buddy?" She asked him in concern, as she swung some of the armour over her shoulders. Frank nodded, though he didn't seem fine. "I'm fine." He assured her. "It's just..." He went quiet. He sounded nervous. She gave him a worried look. "It doesn't look like you're fine. Frank, come on. You can't lie to me." She could see the younger boy grimace at that.

Frank swallowed nervously. "I.. uh.." He stuttered. Eurydice sighed. "Hey, you know you can tell me anything. Okay? And I'd never see you differently." Frank let out a strained smile at her encouragement. "Thanks, Eurydice." He muttered. The girl smiled at him in response. "Of course, but anyways. What's going on with you?" Frank looked nervously again before he took a deep breath.

Frank cleared his throat nervously, like he was building himself up to talk about something big. "Um... Eurydice. If you had a secret you really wanted to tell someone.. but it was a secret that they would see you in a different way forever. Would you?" He frowned nervously. She stopped in her tracks at that.

There was a conflicted look on her face as she tried her best to answer his question. "Well.. it depends. Really." She swallowed slightly, remembering what she had to lie about to even get here. "Do you trust them?" She asked him. Frank looked surprised. "Trust?" He asked. She nodded silently. Frank looked tentatively down at his feet for a second.

He nodded hesitantly. "Yeah... yeah. I think I do." He said. He breathed in slightly. "Thanks, Eurydice." His shoulders relaxed slightly. She patted him on the back. "Of course, anytime Frank." She grinned at him. He smiled back, albeit hesitantly but she was glad to see him smile. "I just wish my father would claim me already." Frank said, another sigh at his lips.

She patted him on the back slightly again. "It'll happen. Alright? He'll claim you. He has to." Frank nodded. "Yeah... I hope so." He frowned again. Eurydice cleared her throat, trying to change the subject. "Who do you think he might be?" She asked. "Your dad." She muttered. Frank shrugged. "I hope he's Apollo." He said with a small smile.

Eurydice laughed. "I'm sure Apollo would be honoured to have a son like you Frank. I know I'd be." She saw the boy's face flush slightly at that. "Thanks." He muttered thankfully at her. Eurydice winked at him. "Of course, anytime  buddy." She told him with a smile. She rubbed the bags under her eyes tiredly as she stretched her arms out. "How long do you think the games will last this time?" Frank shrugged. "No idea." He said.

She frowned slightly. "Oh, by the way." She snapped her fingers as she remembered. "Was someone in here with you earlier?" She muttered in confusion. Frank's face paled slightly. "Oh! Uh.. yeah. Vitellius was in here right before you got here." Eurydice sighed loudly. "He didn't give you any trouble did he? I told him to stop picking on you—" Frank interrupted her. "No, no, no!" He held his hands out defensively. "It wasn't that."

Eurydice's eyebrow raised in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" She asked, Frank's face paled even more now. She wasn't even aware that a person's face could get that pale! She stared at him in confusion when he didn't answer her. "Frank?" She muttered in confusion as she stared at him in concern.

Suddenly, and without warning. The doors of the armoury flew open. Frank jumped slightly as the doors opened with a loud thud. Eurydice barely flinched as she watched Reyna storm in with her metal greyhounds at her heels. The two dogs barked at Eurydice slightly. She stepped a few more meters away so the dogs wouldn't catch onto her like they did the first time she was around the praetor.

Luckily, she had managed to talk her way out of getting into Reyna's bad graces. But those dogs could sense her lies from a mile away. She felt it on her very first day. And it was terrifying. She learned that just like Mrs. O'leary they could be swayed by treats and head pats. That information really did work in her favour. She stepped a few meters forwards to bend down to pet the two dogs slightly. "Rowdy, aren't they?" She turned to Reyna, who looked relieved as the two dogs quieted down.

The dogs immediately stopped barking and began yipping at the head pats she gave them happily. Frank looked absolutely mortified that she had managed to get so close to Reyna's dogs, who were basically violent trained killers in their own right. They weren't as bad as Mrs. O'leary so really, Eurydice saw this as a win. All big dogs were just really just big old softies deep down.

Reyna turned to the two demigods as Eurydice stood up from the ground. "Frank, Eurydice." The praetor looked troubled. "That's enough with the armor. Go find Hazel and Troy. Get Percy Jackson down here. He's been up there too long. I don't want Octavian..." She hesitated. "Just get Percy down here." She insisted. Eurydice sighed as she shoved her keychain back into her pocket.

This was gonna take a lot longer than expected. Her and Frank had ended up having to run all the way to Temple Hill. There were two things Eurydice hates most in the world. Number one, people who disrespect the integrity of music. And number two, Octavian. So she really would rather die than willingly let Percy get stuck with Octavian.

Frank and her silently ran back to Temple Hill as fast as they could. By the time they got there Percy was already waiting for them. As they walked back, Percy had a lot more questions than she had been prepared for. Frank didn't know how to answer him, so he kept looking to Eurydice for an answer. He kept asking about Nico, which made sense.

But it also meant that he could tell Nico wasn't being fully truthful. Which wasn't a good sign.
"He's okay," Frank said, trying to answer Percy but not knowing as much as Eurydice knew. "He's not like Hazel—" He tried to find the words to explain as Eurydice kept quiet. "How do you mean?" Percy muttered in confusion. Eurydice chose to stay quiet, a bit too tired to form a sentence.

"Oh, um..." Frank coughed. He looked mortified for a second. Thinking he might have accidentally insulted the son of pluto. "I mean, Nico is kind of mysterious. He makes everybody else nervous, being the son of Pluto, and all." Eurydice nodded slightly, playing with her keychain in between her palms. Frank shrugged. "He's pretty closed off compared to Hazel and Eurydice. Which isn't a bad thing but he's much more mysterious."

Her keychain clicked around her fingers as she fiddled with it intently. "But not you?" Percy asked Frank curiously. Then younger boy shrugged. "Pluto's cool. It's not his fault he runs the Underworld. He just got bad luck when the gods were dividing up the world, you know? Jupiter got the sky, Neptune got the sea, and Pluto got the shaft."

Eurydice laughed softly. "Yeah, he's not that bad of a guy." Percy gave her a confused look. "You've met him? Your dad?" He muttered in confusion. Eurydice blinked. "Oh, no. Just once." She lied. "He wasn't so bad once you get to know him." She shrugged. Percy looked at Frank. "And.. death it doesn't scare you?" He murmured. Eurydice held in a grimace, her whole existence represented death. It was the thing everyone was afraid of. But Frank was different. He accepted her and Hazel without question, and he was sweet to her sister so that made him a good kid in her books.

It wasn't for the faint of heart, of course death that is. She learned that the hard way. For a while after Nico had left camp. And seemingly betrayed everyone else, people began to wonder if she'd do the same too. Then people began treating her differently. Annabeth began to distance herself from her which made it all the worse for what the hell she was going through that year. Despite that, still no matter what. Percy hadn't left her side. And this version of Percy, he didn't seem to think the same way.

She knew that Annabeth had her pride to lose if she hadn't kept her guard up with her that year. Then it could have been a Luke situation all over again, she understood that. Of course she did. All Eurydice was good at was understanding. And at some point she had gotten sick of it. So after the war ended she had just blew up. She betrayed her own feelings and ended up pushing everyone away. While she recovered from at least multiple stab wounds she somehow hadn't died from.

At that point she was wondering why her father hadn't just let her die. She didn't even let Grover in. She tried to push everyone away as badly as she could. Yet they still forgave her. Every single fucking time. There was only one person who she didn't try to push away. Nico, he was the one who made sure she ate in the morning when she didn't want to get up. Now she was just returning the favour.

Somehow during the time she pushed everyone away Annabeth had realized how much her and Percy's world revolved around her. Meanwhile all she was thinking is if she had to see Annabeth and Percy kiss one more time she'd probably kill someone. In all actuality she would have killed herself and/or the Stoll brothers. She was sure Josiah would have helped her hide their bodies if that was what happened.

Frank looked like he wanted to laugh. After spending so much time with two of the pluto kids it was a little hard to be scared of what they represented, or maybe Frank was just braver than he looked. "Back in the old times, like the Greek times, when Pluto was called Hades, he was more of a death god." Eurydice stiffened slightly at the mention of her father's name.

Percy narrowed an eyebrow at her in concern. She hesitantly un-stiffened after a moment. Frank continued speaking, like he didn't movie. "When he became Roman, he got more...I don't know, respectable. He became the god of wealth, too. Everything under the earth belongs to him. So I don't think of him as being real scary." He said.

Percy scratched his head in confusion. "How does a god become Roman? If he's Greek, wouldn't he stay Greek?" Eurydice continued walking and remembered the long lecture Vitellius gave them all. It was as long as a PowerPoint presentation. She hadn't taken much of what he had tried to teach her. She had tuned out the entire lecture to think about what she'd her for lunch that day instead.

Frank gave it his best shot at explaining. "The way Romans saw it, they adopted the Greek stuff and perfected it." Eurydice nodded. "It's complicated." She muttered with a shake of her head. Percy made a sour face. "Perfected it? Like there was something wrong with it?" Of course he'd be sour about that. He was greek after all, even if he didn't know it. There would always be that buried into him underneath the surface.

Frank shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "Rome was more successful than Greece." If only they knew Eurydice thought, holding in a sigh. Frank continued. "They made this huge empire. The gods became a bigger deal in Roman times—more powerful and widely known." He shrugged. again. "That's why they're still around today. So many civilizations base themselves on Rome."

Eurydice nodded, remembering something from the lecture that she hadn't tuned out in favour of elevator music. "The gods changed to Roman since that was where the center of power was." Well, for Camp Jupiter at least. It wasn't the full truth but it was at least true for the romans. Frank nodded. Jupiter was...well, more responsible as a Roman god than he had been when he was Zeus. Mars became a lot more important and disciplined."

It was interesting how different some of the gods were when they were Roman. The roman versions seemed to leave her alone, so she didn't have an issue with them as much as she did with the Greek ones. It was like they had split personality disorder. They were vastly different than they were as their greek counterparts. Her father, well. He wasn't as warm as his greek self. He was more ore disciplined, militaristic, and warlike. The romans feared him.

The one time she had met him, he looked constantly exhausted. He seemed depressive in a way that she couldn't explain. It was unlike her own father, who was a bit bitter but wasn't as warlike. To her, her father was more kind. But even so he rarely showed he loved her. But she knew he did, in his own way. Even if he didn't know how to express it. Even after all these years, Eurydice and her father still weren't quite sure how to act around each other.

She preferred to stay with her mother, but did end up visiting him a few times during the spring when Persephone was gone. He seemed to appreciate not being alone during the spring for once. But she appreciated that her father tried his best to actually be her father. They had a lot more in their relationship compared to other demigods.

Most demigods wouldn't even see their parents if they weren't on a quest or during the school year. So she considered herself somewhat lucky. Even if their relationship wasn't as close as she'd like. She was a lot more emotional than him, like her mom. And he really didn't know how to deal with that. He had told her that when he had seen her when she was little. She cried almost constantly, and he didn't know what to do.

Her mom was the only one who could calm her down. But her mom would tell him to just be gentle with her, and it worked most of the time. He liked to tell her stories about that often, like he was proud of himself for not screwing her up entirely. Persephone often said they were really like. In the sense that they'd both die for people they loved. Which was an honourable trait, but too reckless. A recklessness they both shared.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Percy's voice.
"And Juno became a hippie bag lady," Percy noted. Eurydice snorted in response. "She does look like a hippie doesn't she?" She muttered in amusement. Percy rolled his eyes at her slightly.  She could only laugh in response. "So you're saying the old Greek gods—they just changed permanently to Roman? There's nothing left of the Greek?" He asked again.

Frank looked like he didn't know how to answer. "Uh..." Be looked around to make sure there were nobody else nearby. Luckily the main gates were still a hundred yards away. "That's a sensitive topic. Some people say Greek influence is still around, like it's still a part of the gods' personalities. I've heard stories of demigods occasionally leaving Camp Jupiter." Eurydice held in the urge to laugh. If only they knew. 

Frank continued. "They reject Roman training and try to follow the older Greek style—like being solo heroes instead of working as a team the way the legion does." A interesting thing about the romans was that they hold more of an emphasis on war. Aphrodite was a war goddess, compared to her greek counterpart who really didn't take it too seriously. Zeus was less of a manwhore, and took his job seriously as Jupiter.

Especially with how they treated the kids at Camp Jupiter. They were more akin to child soldiers than Camp Half Blood would ever be. Maybe that was why they all could stay so united. It had literally took a whole set of circumstances for Camp Half Blood to be united. Silena— she took a deep breath in. She still wasn't used to the thought that she was really gone yet. Silena Beauregard had to dress up as Clarisse to convince the Ares campers to fight in the war.

And she ended up dying, because of it. And— Charlie he died in the explosion on the Princess Andromeda. She still couldn't accept it. He had died because of her and Percy. It wasn't their fault, but they left him there. Oh gods. Ironic that her middle name, the namesake was after the wife of Perseus. She still wasn't sure if her mom had meant to do that or not. She still found it difficult to think about all that's happened since Kronos' fall.

Her mom wanted her to go to therapy. But she was 100% sure no real therapist would believe her, that they'd probably send her to a mental institution if she told them. But she was fine, she deals with her issues on her own. It's nothing to worry about. She can handle it. The grief is still there, but she pushes it down as much as she can. She knows she could probably go see Silena and Charlie whenever she wanted.

But she knew her father would be mad. So not yet. She didn't like to think about the war much, or what happened in the Labyrinth. It was too much for her to think about. But she didn't have anyone to talk to about it anymore. Nico didn't wanna talk about it. Annabeth didn't either, she was focusing on looking for Percy. And Percy... well he didn't remember. So she virtually had no one to talk to about this dead or alive.

Frank's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "And back in the ancient days, when Rome fell, the eastern half of the empire survived—the Greek half." Percy stared at him in confusion. "I didn't know that." He muttered. "It was called Byzantium." Frank said. "The eastern empire lasted another thousand years, but it was always more Greek than Roman. For those of us who follow the Roman way, it's kind of a sore subject. That's why, whatever country we settle in, Camp Jupiter is always in the west—the Roman part of the territory. The east is considered bad luck."

Percy frowned slightly. "Huh." He said.He seemed confused. Honestly she'd be confused too if she was him. Memory loss and plopped into a camp he doesn't even understand. The Greek/Roman stuff still gave her a headache too. She still wasn't sure what she'd do if she were to ever meet the roman counterpart of some of the gods she already knew. She surely didn't want to meet Venus. Her greek counterpart had already done enough damage to last a lifetime.

Finally they reached the gates. Eurydice sighed in relief. "The bathhouse is where we separate." She said to the two boys. Percy looked confused again, and Frank nodded. "Yeah. I'll take Percy to the baths to get him cleaned up," Frank said. "We'll see you after then Eurydice." She nodded at him slightly. "But first...about those vials I found at the river." Her eyebrow narrowed slightly.

Frank cleared his throat. "It happened back at the tunnel." He told her. "Oh, right. The gorgon's blood," Percy said. "One vial heals. One is deadly poison." It wasn't hard to believe that Percy had managed to kill a gorgon again. Considering that they literally sent Medusa's head to Olympus when they were twelve. The romans would burst a blood vessel if they ever got wind of that.

Frank's eyes widened. "You know about that? Listen, I wasn't going to keep them. I just—" He sounded like he was trying to defend him. He looked like he was panicked. "I know why you did it, Frank." Percy said. "You do?" She wasn't worried that Frank was trying to do it for any nefarious reasons. He was a good kid.

"Yeah." Percy smiled. "If I'd come into camp carrying a vial of poison, that would've looked bad. You were trying to protect me." Frank deflated slightly in relief. Looking less anxious than before. "Oh...right." Frank nodded slightly. "But if we could figure out which vial was which, it might heal your memory." Eurydice froze.

Frank looked at her in confusion. His eyebrows furrowing slightly. Percy's smile faded slightly. He gazed across the hills. "Maybe...I guess. But you should hang on to those vials for now. There's a battle coming. We may need them to save lives." He said. Percy, ever the selfless. She held in the urge to sigh in relief. She didn't need him to get his memories back faster. It wouldn't end well if he remembered earlier.

It'd certainly be harder to keep the secret of the greek camp. And Percy wasn't ever that good at keeping a secret anyways. He always showed his heart on his sleeve, out there for everyone to see. Compared to her, they were a lot different. She was more guarded, closed off. She was still scared that if he got close to her again, he wouldn't end up liking this version of her.

Of course Percy would choose helping others over getting his memory back. That was just like him. Frank stared at him, a bit in awe. The romans were inherently selfish, but they have to help their comrades. But she was sure if anyone else had camp had to make that decision they would have kept those vials for themself.

"So you don't remember anything?" Frank asked in clear. "Family, friends?" Eurydice did her best to give him a sympathetic look. "It must be tough. Not knowing where you're from." She grimaced slightly. "Someone must miss you." She could see Percy brighten slightly at her words. She felt the dull ache in her heart again that wouldn't stop. Her nails dug hard into her wrist, to keep herself from slipping her guard down further. She hid the blood that fell from her wrist with her sweater.

The boy in question played with the very familiar clay beads around his neck. He had four beads in total on his necklace. Eurydice kept hers back at home in a tiny little box, just so she wouldn't ever loose it. If she had brought it with her, she immediately would have looked a lot more suspicious than she already was. Even if she wanted so badly to fiddle around with the necklace out of pure habit.

She still had her keychain at least. No one in Camp Jupiter had seemed to discover her keychain could turn into a sword, as she usually uses the swords that Camp Jupiter provides. Her keychain can switch between her two swords, the one her father had given her and the one Chiron had gifted to her all those years ago when she was twelve. Courtesy of mythological magic, she could switch between either at will. Or have one out with her and the other tucked safely into her pocket.

Percy took a deep breath. Playing around with the beads around his neck. "Only glimpses. Murky stuff. A girlfriend...I thought she'd be at camp." She froze slightly at that. A girlfriend. Just a girlfriend. Her eyes widened slightly. He didn't remember her. He remembered Annabeth. But he didn't remember her. Oh gods. He didn't remember her. She could feel her fists clenched slightly as the horror began to dawn on her, as if for the very first time.

She sucked in a breath sharply. Of course. She wanted to laugh, but Frank and Percy would probably think she was crazy. Of course, of course she always had to be the last choice. She was always their last choice. Of course she was! She wasn't Percy's first choice, and she wasn't Annabeth's. She wasn't theirs, but she still loved them like she was. She knew that. Yet she still let herself foolishly hope. The person who he had forgotten, that would have been her.

Every time she hopes, it always ends badly for her. She didn't ask for this! She didn't ask for any of this! What was all that damage for if she didn't get a happy ending? The happy ending that she wanted. That means that all the damage she got wasn't good damage. It's just damage. Maybe people like her just weren't meant for happy endings. For true happy endings. She knows how the stories about people like her end.

They usually didn't end well. Look at all of the greek heroes for example. Achilles and Patroclus ended in them both dead. The original Eurydice died and left Orpheus mourning for the rest of his life. No endings about people like her ended well! Not in the history of man. Nothing in history had ever changed that people like her got the happy endings they so desperately wanted.

Percy looked at the two of them carefully, as if making a decision. "Her name was Annabeth. You guys don't know her, do you?" He asked, sounding desperate. Which did nothing but hurt her soul even more. She bit down hard on her lip hard enough that she could taste the familiar metallic taste of blood. She wiped the trail of blood dripping down her lips with a finger. Eurydice took a breath and spoke. "I don't think I've ever met an Annabeth." She muttered with a shake of her head.

Percy sighed, breathing in shakily. "And there's something else." He said, going quiet for a second. He chose his next few words carefully. "I can't help but get the feeling that something's missing." He said, sounding like this particularly stuck with him. "I... I feel like there's someone important that I should remember." He said this with so much clarity and pain that it hurt. "But I don't know who." Frank stated at him with shakily. Eurydice could feel her mouth go dry. "But I know they're important." He sounded so determined that it felt nostalgic.

Frank winced sympathetically. She was glad none of them could see the tension in her shoulders. "I know everybody at camp, but no Annabeth." He said with a frown on his face. Percy gave Eurydice a look. "You were bleeding." He blurted out. She blinked in response. "I didn't realize." She said quietly, wiping the rest of the blood off. She didn't even realize he was staring at her that closely to notice. He still seemed like he was silently trying to figure out what her deal was, but she wouldn't let him.

She doesn't know what she'd do if he got too close to her again.

Frank cleared his throat awkwardly. "What about your family? Is your mom mortal?" He asked Percy. She winced at the thought of Sally Jackson at home with her husband frantically worrying about her missing son. She was probably worried sick. She felt the lump in her throat return again. She scowled slightly at the feeling. Percy nodded, finally diverting his eyes away from her. "I guess so...she's probably worried out of her mind. Do you guys see your mom's much?"

Eurydice immediately winced. Frank stopped walking for a moment. They were in front of the bathhouse's entrance now. "She died." He muttered. Eurydice patted his shoulder, Frank smiled at her appreciatively. Percy knit his brow. He frowned, like he felt like the worst person in the world for asking. "How?" He muttered out of curiosity. Frank breathed in slightly.

He seemed like he was about to cry for a second. "She died in the war," He said. "Afghanistan." She remembers Frank telling them a while ago. It had happened pretty recently for him, enough to still hurt but not long enough to hurt less. She couldn't imagine how Frank had felt, Eurydice wouldn't know what she'd do without her mom. He'd usually make an excuse to say how she died if it had been anyone else. But Percy had an effect on people that they trusted him almost immediately.

Percy nodded silently. A silence coming over the three of them. "She was in the military?" Frank nodded. "Canadian. Yeah." She took a breath before she spoke. "She died a hero." Frank nodded silently, smiling slightly. Percy narrowed an eyebrow in confusion. "Canada? I didn't know—" Not many Americans knew that Canada had also been involved in that war. But Eurydice knew her history from her mom.

Her mom had told her stories of her growing up in Vancouver with her grandmother before they moved to New York. Eurydice never asked about her grandma again after the one time she had met her. She... she wasn't a nice woman. She had expected a sweet and kind grandma. The kind that'd make you cookies and make you chicken noodle soup when you're sick.

Not the kind that belittled and berated her mom for Eurydice's existence. Apparently having her ruined her mom's life. That was why she didn't like to talk about grandma much. Her mom didn't like to either. If she had grown up with that tyrant of a lady she'd want to get away too. No wonder her mom made sure to put her in a retirement home.

"Most Americans don't." Frank sighed. "But yeah, Canada has troops there. My mom was a captain. She was one of the first women to die in combat. She saved some soldiers who were pinned down by enemy fire. She...she didn't make it. The funeral was right before I came down here." He sighed deeply, the memories coming back to him.

Percy nodded, he didn't ask for anymore details. Which Frank seemed to be relived by. Eurydice knew all about grief. She had lived it far too many times to like it. She grieved Bianca, Charlie, Silena... and.. Eve. And she still hasn't moved on. She's still the same person she was when they all died. She feels like her mind stopped aging as soon as she watched Bianca die. The second death she had witnessed and felt in her life.

She even grieved the people who died that she hadn't known. Micheal, Ethan, Zoë, Castor. She can't help but think that if she could have felt death near any of them sooner. She could have stopped it. She took a deep breath.

Percy stared at her for a moment. "What about your mom?" He asked. Eurydice took another deep breath in. "She's back at home in New York. She lives with my stepdad in our apartment." She said with a shrug. "He was a neuroscience and theatre major. My mom met him at a diner we went to a lot when I was little." She smiled slightly at the memory. Percy smiled slightly. "He seems like a nice guy. Judging by the way you smile even when you're talking about him."

Percy could always tell whenever she was happy. He always used to say that it would show on her face. The frown on her face would disappear and her lips would upturn into an "angelic" smile. Annabeth had agreed, but she was sure they were just being dramatic. Apparently she looked like an angel whenever she smiled. Eurydice would argue that was complete and utter bias because they were dating her. They always said that it wasn't true, that they had no bias. But she knew better.

Frank smiled slightly. "Your mom and stepdad sound nice." He said with a grin. Eurydice nodded. "Yeah, they are. They got married just last year. But they've been pining since I was twelve I think. He was just our regular waiter before." She shrugged. "My mom was in college too for a while. She got a film degree." She probably could fill a book on everything cool about her mother. Sometimes Eurydice thought her mom was cooler than she'd ever be.

Orion was pretty cool too. He made videos and her mom had a film degree, it was a match made in heaven for sure. "How about you show me the baths now Frank?" Percy asked. "I'm filthy." He grimaced. Frank managed a smile. "Yeah. You kind of are." He laughed. Eurydice gave the two boys a nod as she stepped away. "I'll see you two at the games then." She gave Frank a fake salut.

Frank laughed slightly. "Yeah, we'll see you later." He walked into the bathhouse a few seconds before Percy. The sea-green eyed boy didn't move for a second. He gave her a look, like he wanted to say something. But Frank had called for him before he could. She watched Percy disappear behind the door of the bathhouse. And all she could think of was what he was trying to tell her.

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A LOT OF THINGS RAN through Eurydice's head as she walked with Percy, Frank, Hazel, and Troy to the war games. She breathed in slightly through her nose. She needed to relax. It wasn't like anyone knew she was out of place here. If she was careful enough, no one would ever know. Maybe she could shadow travel to europe or something until this all blows over.

That would be hard considering people would be asking where she went. Then that would be a whole other thing. So, it was a bad idea. There was no point in her running away now. She had no where else to go. Camp Half Blood seemed but a distant memory right now. People would question why she came back so quick. It'd make her look more suspicious than ever, especially since everyone thinks she's searching for Percy right now.

She grimaced to herself slightly, no she needs to stop thinking about these things. If she does, then she'd be thinking about every single possibility and negative outcome to herself for hours. It wouldn't do her much help. Once they got out of camp, the fifth the Fifth Cohort formed two lines behind their centurions, Dakota and Gwen. There were few of the younger members of the fifth behind the older ones. They all then started marching north, skirting the edge of the city.

They were headed towards the Field of Mars— which was the largest, and flattest part of the valley. The grass was cut short and the earth was pitted with explosion craters, scarred with trenches from past games. The last game had, as you could guess ended in a loss for the fifth. And she wasn't feeling pretty optimistic about their chances for a win anytime soon. At the north end of the field, was their target.

The engineers had ended up building a stone fortress that reminded her of a medieval castle. It had iron portcullis, guard towers, scorpion ballistae, water cannons, and no doubt many other nasty surprises for the defenders to use. Just great. She grimaced again. She could hear Troy sighed under his breath loudly. Percy stared at the field in confusion, completely and utterly lost.

"They did a good job today," Hazel noted. "That's bad for us." She frowned significantly. Troy sighed deeply again. "It means we're gonna have a harder time attempting to not lose for the... what.. twentieth time?" He questioned out-loud. "Wait," Percy abruptly said in confusion. "So you're telling me that fortress was built today?" He sounded extremely shocked that the camp could just built that within a day. She had been impressed by it too, Camp Half Blood wasn't nearly as efficient.

Hazel grinned, nodding slightly. She was always so excited to tell someone about this. "Legionnaires are trained to build. If we had to, we could break down the entire camp and rebuild it somewhere else. Take maybe three or four days, but we could do it." She said this as it wasn't a shocking fact at all. Percy blinked. "Let's not," He said. "So you attack a different fort every night?" He asked.

Frank shook his head. "Not every night," He said. "We have different training exercises. Sometimes death ball—um, which is like paint-ball, except with...you know, poison and acid and fire balls. Sometimes we do chariots and gladiator competitions, sometimes war games." Troy nodded. "Death ball is a bit more brutal than today's game. Let's not scare him too much guys." Percy immediately sighed in relief.

Eurydice grinned. "That game's my favourite." She grinned happily at the memory of her watching Tory hit Octavian with one of the death balls. It was probably the highlight of her stay at Camp Jupiter. Other than Percy thinking Dakota was actually drunk, now that was funny. Hazel pointed at the fort. "Somewhere inside, the First and Second Cohorts are keeping their banners. Our job is to get inside and capture them without getting slaughtered. We do that, we win."

Percy's eyes lit up. "Like capture-the-flag. I think I like capture-the-flag." Eurydice smiled. Some things never changed. She realized that she had been smiling a little too softly. She dug her nails into her knee slightly. "It's like a walmart version of capture-the-flag." She chuckled. Troy and Hazel stared at her in confusion. "Walmart?" They muttered together in unison. Hazel blinked. "What's a Walmart?" She muttered in confusion.

Eurydice blinked. "Wow." Frank winced. "We really need to get you guys out more." He muttered, patting Troy and Hazel on their backs. "You don't know Walmart? That's— unfathomable." Eurydice interrupted dramatically. "That's literally insane. I bet even Percy knows about Walmart and he lost his memories!" She muttered in disbelief. She can't believe they missed out on the collective experience that was Walmart.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, I saw a Walmart just before I got here actually." Eurydice blinked at him in confusion. "What?" She muttered in shock. Percy shrugged. "Walmart ladies were after me." Frank tried his best to not look concerned. "You mean... those gorgon ladies were Walmart employees?" Percy nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." He muttered, in the most serious voice she had ever heard. She tried her best not to laugh at the image of Percy in her head running away from gorgon ladies dressed in Walmart employee uniforms trying to kill him.

Troy grimaced. "I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." He said. Eurydice cackled in response, nearly falling out of line from their matching line. Luckily Troy and Hazel grabbed her before she could trip. Percy rolled his eyes at Troy and her for laughing so casually at his trauma like that. It was hard to not laugh when someone told you that Walmart employee snake ladies tried to kill them.

Hazel had to make sure Eurydice didn't fall over but she looked even more confused now. Frank laughed. "Yeah, well anyways...the game's a lot harder than it sounds. We have to get past those scorpions and water cannons on the walls, fight through the inside of the fortress, find the banners, and defeat the guards, all while protecting our own banners and troops from capture. And our cohort is in competition with the other two attacking cohorts. We sort of work together, but not really. The cohort that captures the banners gets all the glory."

Percy was listening to his explanation intently. A few seconds later, he stumbled trying to keep time with the left-right marching rhythm. The others grimaced in sympathy. Before Percy stumbled onto his own two feet again, Eurydice caught his arm before he could. He nearly stopped moving for a breathing until he realized he was supposed to go back into line. "Thanks." He muttered, staring at her slightly as she shoved him back into their line. She gave him a thumbs up. "No problem."

Why did she give him a thumbs up?? That's so stupid. Why is she so stupid?? She mentally cursed herself out in her head as they continued marching out. Great way to embarrass yourself again in front of him again. Come on Eurydice! Get yourself together! ...And there she goes talking to herself again....

The five of them continued marching in their line. She could hear a few of the younger kids in the fifth babbling amongst themselves as their centurions went up ahead of the rest. "So why are we practicing this, anyway?" Percy asked. "Do you guys spend a lot of time laying siege to fortified cities?" She snorted slightly. "No, but that'd be funny wouldn't it?" Troy nodded in agreement. "It would, but Reyna would never allow it." He said.

"Teamwork," Hazel answered Percy's question. "Quick thinking. Tactics. Battle skills. You'd be surprised what you can learn in the war games." She shrugged her head slightly. "Like who will stab you in the back," Frank pointed out. "Especially that," Hazel agreed. Troy winced. "It's kind of hard to know who's going to stab you in the back until it happens. So it's better to know who you can trust." He murmured.

Percy nodded slowly, taking in the information. His body was clearly much more suited to Camp Half Blood's methods of training their child soldiers, I mean demigods. Both camps had very different types of child soldiers. Camp Half Blood noticeably didn't have any demigods who made it up to the ages of twenty and beyond. They also had a notable absence of teamwork, but fun wasn't something they lacked.

Camp Jupiter was void of any fun. It was hard to find the fun in something when you were basically like the military version of a summer camp. It was like that terrible military school that Leo, Jason, Piper and Michelle had been put in right before getting to Camp Half Blood. But ten times worse. Camp Jupiter, was not for the faint of heart. All of their campers had tough skin, they had to.

They marched to the center of the Field of Mars and formed ranks. Noticeably The Third and Fourth Cohorts assembled as far as possible from the Fifth. The centurions for the attacking side gathered for a conference. In the sky above them, Reyna circled on her pegasus, Scipio, ready to play referee. Hazel looked up at the pegasus with a smile. Maybe when all of this was over she'd ask for money from their dad (Hades, not Pluto) so Hazel could get a real horse. She'd love that.

There were half a dozen giant eagles flying in formation behind Reyna. They were prepared for ambulance airlift duty if needed. The only person not participating in the game was Nico, who had climbed an observation tower about a hundred yards from the fort and would be watching with binoculars. She could see wave at them from high up slightly, she could see Hazel smile slightly.

Achilles, Reyna's current second-in-command slash assistant since Jason's disappearance stood next to the praetor as she landed on the ground. He held a scoreboard in his hands, he had been excused from playing for the same reason as Reyna. They had a lot of work that needed their attention, so they couldn't afford to play in the games. The pink haired boy whispered something into Reyna's ear.

She could see Reyna taking the scoreboard from him as she told him something else. The boy then ran off, leaving Reyna to command Scipio to fly back upwards. She watched as Frank propped his pilum against his shield and checked Percy's armor. Every strap was correct. Every piece of armor was properly adjusted. Frank looked confused. "You did it right," he said in amazement. "Percy, you must've done war games before."

Eurydice cursed out Zeus, shit.

Percy seemed a little freaked out for a second. "I don't know. Maybe." He didn't seem to have any idea on how he did that right. Eurydice was slightly relieved he didn't seem to be remembering anything other than... Annie. She didn't need to think about any of that right now. They had to get through the games now. Her body was still sore from the last game.

Eurydice carefully hid her keychain into her cardigan's pocket safely. Her sword wasn't regulation, and she needed to learn to use the roman's swords anyways. Percy still had his familiar glowing bronze sword—not Imperial gold, and not a gladius. The blade was leaf-shaped, and the writing on the hilt was Greek.

Frank gave Percy an uneasy look. He seemed to be looking at the sword. Percy blinked hopelessly in confusion. "We can use real weapons, right?" He asked. Frank slowly nodded."Yeah," He agreed. "For sure. But.. it's just that I've just never seen a sword like that." He mumbled under his breath. Troy nodded. "Yeah.. that's a unique sword if I've ever seen one." He shrugged his head slightly, fixing a piece of his armour.

Percy grimaced. "What if I hurt somebody?" His features tightened in concern. "We heal them," Frank answered. "Or try to. The legion medics are pretty good with ambrosia and nectar, and unicorn draught." Eurydice nodded. "Yeah, usually there's no war casualty." She murmured in amusement.

Hazel noodled in agreement, smiling slightly. "Yeah. No one dies," Hazel said. "Well, not usually. And if they do—" Frank interrupted her.
And he started imitating the voice of Vitellius: "They're wimps! Backin my day, we died all the time, and we liked it!" It was probably the most accurate imitation of the lare that she had ever heard. Not even she could do that guy's voice justice.

Hazel laughed softly. Staring at Frank with a smile that was a little too soft to just be a friend smile. Eurydice wrapped an arm around the obviously nervous Percy. "Just stick with us, Percy. Chances are, we'll probably loose anyways." She shrugged nonchalantly. Tory laughed. "We can agree on that." The two exchanged a high-five with matching grins. Now, Hazel had seemingly remembered that it wasn't just her and Frank here.

The dark skinned girl nodded slightly. Yeah, she's right." Hazel nodded. "Just stay with us and chances are we'll get the worst duty and get eliminated early. They'll throw us at the walls first to soften up the defenses. Then the Third and Fourth Cohorts will march in and get the honors, if they can even breach the fort." They were all used to a loss during the games by now. It wasn't something to get upset about, it was just a plain fact.

Every time they ever tried to hope for a win, it ended badly. And as soon as she had finished her thought, the horns suddenly blew loudly into all of the campers ears. She could spot Dakota and Gwen walking back from the officers' conference, looking grim. Dakota sighed deeply and stared at his Kool-Aid flask for a second. "All right, here's the plan!" He then took a quick swig of Kool-Aid from his flask. "They're throwing us at the walls first to soften up the defenses."

The whole cohort groaned in mutual annoyance. "You've gotta be kidding me." She could hear Ryan Castillo murmur to Milo Davidson and Hazel Bennett. Milo patted the younger boy on the shoulder slightly. "At least you won't be dead meat again, like last time." The older boy grimaced. "You were concussed for a week last game." Ryan pouted in response. "And how is that my fault?" He complained, muttering something incoherent angrily to himself.

Milo rolled his eyes at the younger boy and flicked his forehead. "Dude, chill out. I'll tell the medics myself to not heal you if you decide to be an idiot again." Ryan looked like he was about to faint. The other Hazel only laughed at the sheer look of horror on the younger boy's face. The younger boy muttered something about wishing he was hiding at someone named Jamie's apartment as he kicked his feet at the dirt on the ground.

Gwen cleared her throat loudly, catching the attention of all of the campers who had been conversing with each other. "I know, I know," Gwen said. "But maybe this time we'll have some luck!" She said optimistically, though none of their cohort looked excited. Gwen was always the most optimistic out of their cohort. Everyone liked her because she took care of her people and tried to keep all their spirits up. Surprisingly she could even control Dakota during his hyperactive bug-juice fits.

But still. most of the campers still grumbled and complained. No one believed in luck for the Fifth, and it was understandable after all they've gone through this year. Gwen cleared her throat. "First line with Dakota," She said. "Lock shields and advance in turtle formation to the main gates. Try to stay in one piece. Draw their fire. Second line—" Gwen turned to their row without much enthusiasm. She grimaced slightly. Usually Achilles would have been in their row, but when he was helping Reyna he usually wasn't allowed near rest of the fifth for luck reasons.

Eurydice understood that Reyna was superstitious of their cohort, considering everything. So she didn't want one of her only strong men left to get injured when playing with his notoriously unlucky cohort. She didn't hear much about Achilles other than he had seen Jason as an older brother. And was extremely close to him, Reyna and Troy before he went missing. He was only fourteen, around Nico's age but seemed a lot older than he was.

Gwen sighed softly. "You seventeen, from Bobby over, take charge of the elephant and the scaling ladders. Try a flanking attack on the western wall. Maybe we can spread the defenders too thin." She hummed slightly in thought. She then looked at the five of them. "Eurydice, Frank, Hazel, Troy, Percy...well, just do whatever. Show Percy the ropes. Try to keep him alive." She muttered, not expecting much from them.

She then turned over to Ryan and Milo. The older girl sighed deeply as she stared at the young boy. "And Castillo, you better not get injured again." She said to the boy with a deep sigh. She wagged her finger at him like a nice teacher that you hated to disappoint. "We don't need another concussion on our hands." She grimaced slightly. Ryan grinned a little too much for it to have been natural. "Yes ma'am." He said, though he sounded like he was planning something.

Gwen sighed. "You better not leave the defense like this time." She said. "Listen to the orders and don't stray away from the group. You hear me?" She told the boy. Ryan just nodded unconvincingly. Gwen then turned to Milo who was right next to him. "Davidson, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." She didn't look like she believed Ryan could be trusted with staying on task. Milo nodded saluting at their centurion in response. "Yes ma'am." He sounded a lot more convincing than Ryan had.

She tuned out the rest of the orders Gwen had given to the rest of the cohort. Finally the desks hair girl turned back to the whole cohort. "If anybody gets over the wall first, I'll make sure you get the Mural Crown. Victory for the Fifth!" She announced as cohort cheered half heartedly and broke into their ranks.

Percy frowned in confusion. "'Do whatever?'" He asked. "Yeah," Hazel sighed. "Big vote of confidence." She tried her best to not look annoyed. Troy winced. "Good to know that Gwen's got some faith in us." He murmured sarcastically. Eurydice chuckled. "I mean, she could think worse of us right?" She pointed out. The others could only shrug helplessly in response

"What's the Mural Crown?" Percy asked suddenly in confusion. "Military medal," Frank answered. She hadn't expected Frank of all people to remember that so easily. "Big honor for the first soldier to breach an enemy fort. You'll notice nobody in the Fifth is wearing one. Usually we don't even get into the fort because we're burning or drowning or..." He explained, wincing at the memories. "Or in that kid Ryan's case, getting concussions?" Percy asked.

Frank nodded. "Yep." He muttered. The younger boy faltered for a second as he realized something. He then stared right at Percy in a sudden realization. "Water cannons." He muttered out. Now Percy was completely lost. Eurydice raised an eyebrow in confusion. "How are cannons gonna help us win, Frank?" She muttered in confusion.

Percy nodded instinctively in agreement with her. "Yeah, Frank I really don't see how some random water cannons are gonna help us." Frank shook his head quickly. "No, no!" He yelled out. "I mean the cannons on the walls," He said, "They draw water from the aqueduct. There's a pump system—heck, I don't know how they work, but they're under a lot of pressure. If you could control them, like you controlled the river—"

"Frank!" Hazel beamed at the boy. "That's brilliant!" Eurydice blinked in shock. "I'm sorry you did what?" She stared at Percy in sheer bafflement. Percy nodded. "Yeah, back at the..." He trailed off slightly. "The tunnels." Troy finished for him quickly. Eurydice blinked again. "Wow, how much did I miss?" She muttered in what she couldn't tell was intrigue or bewilderment.

Hazel brushed it off. "Not too much, I think." She said. Percy didn't look so sure that he could do what he did earlier again. "I don't know how I did that at the river. I'm not sure I can control the cannons from this far away." To be honest even Eurydice wasn't really sure how Percy's powers worked. She had seen him in action loads of times, but still how he even managed to do it was a mystery to her. She had her own way of using her powers, but for some reason Percy was almost virtually impossible to read in battle.

Troy realized something. "How about we get you closer?" He suggested. Frank nodded, smiling in agreement. "You're a genius! Yeah, we can just get him closer." The boy said, a plan suddenly forming in his head. Frank pointed to the eastern wall of the fort, where the Fifth Cohort wouldn't be attacking. "That's where the defense will be weakest. They'll never take five kids from the fifth seriously. I think we can sneak up pretty close before they see us." He mumured.

Eurydice nodded. "Right..." She hummed slightly deep in though. "Sneak up how?" Percy asked, he didn't seem confident that they could get over there without any plan. The thought reminded her of Annabeth slightly. She held in a sigh, biting down on her lip again. Frank turned to Hazel. "Can you do that thing again?" He asked her. Immediately Percy's eyebrows rose up in alarm. "Do what?" He muttered in confusion.

Hazel looked mortified. She punched Frank in the chest. She was a lot shorter than him so it really didn't do much. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody!" She yelled at him. Immediately Frank had this horrified look on his face. He seemed to regret those words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Eurydice sighed deeply, Hazel wasn't that good at keeping secrets anyways. Hopefully it wouldn't be too... worrying to tell the others about her powers. 

Frank gave Hazel a slightly hurt but apologetic look. She could see her sister's face immediately soften. "Nevermind. It's fine." She muttered under her breath. Hazel sighed again before she spoke. "He's talking about the trenches. The Field of Mars is riddled with tunnels from over the years. Some are collapsed, or buried deep, but a lot of them are still passable. I'm pretty good at finding them and using them. I can even collapse them if I have to." Troy winced. "I'm not even sure if any of them are safe." He noted.

Eurydice wasn't too keen on the idea of that if they could accidentally collapse in the trenches. Percy turned to look at her. "Can you do that too?" He asked. She just winced slightly in response. "Well.. me and Hazel have... how can I say this." She took a breath. "We have very different powers." She said. "I can see ghosts, and summon them. Even talk to them. And I control the dead basically. But I don't think I can do what Hazel can." She explained.

Percy nodded slightly in understanding. "So, the powers of different kids of gods vary from which kid it is?" He asked. Troy nodded. "Exactly. That's why Hazel can..." He trailed off. "Do the thing she did back with the gorgons. And Eurydice can see the dead." Percy nodded. "Yeah, Hazel slowed them down earlier." He muttered. Frank nodded approvingly. "I told you Pluto was cool. He's the god of everything under the earth. Hazel can find caves, tunnels, trapdoors—"

Frank was about to go in a rant about how cool Hazel's powers were until Hazel interrupted him. "And it was our secret," She grumbled underneath her breath with a shake of her head. Frank flushed in embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry. But if we can get close—" Percy finished his sentence for him. "And if I can knock out the water cannons..." Percy nodded, like he was warming to the idea. "What do we do then?"

Frank looked over at his quivers, and then at Eurydice and Troy's weapons. "I think I've got an idea." He muttered. The others turned to face him in confusion, exchanging worried glances. "What do you mean?" Troy muttered in confusion. Eurydice winced, but against her better judgement wanted to trust the younger boy. "Let's hear him out." She insisted gently.

Then Frank turned to the others with a determined look on his face. "The rest is up to me," He said. "Let's go." The five of them all nodded at the boy determinedly.

█⠀⠀⠀. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ RAI SPEAKS!! . . .
              ◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡     Words: 10151

Holy shit. That was a lot of writing 😭 I ended up having to separate the two chapters of the war games because I ended up writing way more for this chapter than I expected. But this was insanely fun to write! I had a lot of fun. More Eurydice content for you all <33

This is the longest thing i've ever written by far. Next chapter will be the rest of the war games! This is only the beginning!! This chapter took 3 days to write. So yall better appreciate it. I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this. More of Eurydice's unreliable narrator arc!!! It's okay I forgive her. She's so Diane Nguyen and Todd Chavez coded ugh. She deserves better 😭 She needs to be in pain before things get better though. Sorry not sorry!!