Chapter 6: Bystander

Grover was Eren's designated protector, yet he had already failed his mission twice, once with the Fury and once with the Minotaur.

He wondered why it had to be him who was chosen for missions like these, when it was very clear he wasn't the right satyr for them. Eren was Thalia all over again. How could he have been so stupid?

As Grover looked at his friend he felt guilt wash over him. The demigod's eyes were still filled with grief over the loss, even though he tried to hide his feelings, Grover could feel the hatred and dejection radiate from him. So vulnerable.

It pained Grover to see his friend like that.

Grover promised himself that he wouldn't have to go through so much hurt again. The least could do was protect Eren from further harm. That was his duty, both as friend and as satyr protector.

Right now Grover thought it might be for him to try and lift Eren's mood.

For that reason he had taken a different route through camp, instead of going directly to the porch. Instead he had taken Eren through the strawberry fields, taken him to see the archery range and the canoe lake, where Naiads immediately flocked towards Eren, much to his own shock.

Eren clearly had many questions, but he managed to restrain himself from asking any and went with the flow for now.

Slowly but surely Grover saw Eren's mood brighten as recent events were pushed back, their space taken up by newly created impressions and thoughts.
When Grover decided that Eren was stable enough to hear the full truth from Chiron he finally led the utterly confused demigod to the Big House.

That is Mister D," Grover murmured as the pair approached the porch. He slowed his pace down for a second, forcing Eren to slow down his own movement as well.

Grover subtly nodded towards the short Olympian that was sitting at the table. Dionysus hadn't seen them coming yet.

Luckily for Grover, the god of wine was still occupied with his game with Chiron, grumpily clutching his cards in his hand, rearranging their order as if that would change the outcome of the game. Grover spotted Annabeth who was watching the two from the sidelines, her eyes scanning the game.

"What about him?" Eren asked. He was experimentally shifting his own weight between his legs, trying to test the waters with how well his balance had recovered after being in bed for so long.

"He is the camp director, do not piss him off," the satyr warned.

"I won't," Eren said dismissively. His eyes were not even fixated on his friend, instead they were fixed on the campers riding on the pegasi down at the trail. "Say, are those wings?"

"Eren I am serious," Grover snapped his fingers in front of the demigod's eyes to gain his attention back. "You do not want to mess with Mister D."

Eren scowled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Grover sighed. It felt to him as if he was bringing a bag of explosives right into a meeting with Hepheastus. "Because you are an idiot who picks fights with everything and everyone."

"Fine, I won't," Eren said, this time giving the guy in the Hawaiian shirt a better look.

Grover nodded. "Okay. The girl you see is Annabeth Chase, she doesn't look like much but don't be deceived by her looks. And the last person, I think you already know."

Eren frowned but didn't comment on it, willing to wait a little longer for all the answers he wanted.

When they got closer Annabeth was the first one to notice, followed by Chiron. If Dionysus noticed, he didn't show any signs of it. His eyes were glued to the cards.

As Chiron turned around Eren's eyes widened. A child-like excitement and glee radiated from them. "Mr Brunner?!"

The teacher turned creature gave Eren a warm smile. "Now Eren, what did I tell you about getting into fights?"

"But how?" Eren looked at Chiron in shock, somehow, seeing his teacher here must have been stranger than seeing naiads and pegasi.

"Come sit down," Chiron moved one of the chairs next to the table, offering the seat to him.

Grover saw Dionysus look at Eren Yeager with bloodshot eyes. That was fairly standard for him, so that meant at least everything was going well. As long as Eren didn't stand out and Dionysus was his usual self, nothing would be amiss.

"Oh well, I guess it is time again for me to do the thing, right?" he asked Chiron. The centaur in disguise gave him a nod. Dionysus sighed and turned his eyes back to Eren.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, we are all so freaking excited to have you here," he waved his hands to accentuate his sarcasm. He turned to Chiron. "I did my part."

"Thank you," Eren said coldly. He smelled the stench of alcohol coming off Dionysus. Because of it he couldn't help but to think of Gabe when he looked at Mr. D. The memories that resurfaced were not particularly nice ones.

"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called. Grover noticed the girl's gaze hadn't left Eren once. He couldn't quite see what she was thinking. Eren didn't seem to realize this as his attention was occupied by Mister. D. Chiron nodded towards Annabeth, drawing the black haired demigod's eyes away from the god in disguise. "This lovely lady is Annabeth, she nursed you back to health the past few , my dear, why don't you go check on Eren's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven until we know more."

Annabeth said, "Sure Chiron."

She moved to the exit of the porch. Before she reached it she and Eren made eye contact. Eren's eyes glazed over for a second. Annabeth, for her part, also didn't drop her eyes and for a second Grover worried this was going to be awkward.

Then Eren broke the spell by giving the girl a nod. "Thank you."

The nod was courtly returned before Annabeth turned around and left in a hurry. No clever remarks, no jabs or observations. Just a nod. Grover wondered why.

"So, Mr. Bunner, do you teach here as well or…?" Eren said when Annabeth ran out of view.

The centaur said, "My name isn't exactly Mr Brunner. It is something of a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron." He gave Eren an expectant look.

"Uh huh," Eren thought it over. He looked at Mr. D. "So I think your name is also a pseudonym? What does the D stand for?"

"I don't think you should treat names this carelessly," Mr. D suggested, shuffling the deck of cards.

Eren looked at the belching man that by most mortal standards, would have been called repulsive.

Gears inside his head seemed to be turning.

Eren said, "It is Dionysus, isn't it?"

The god stopped shuffling the deck.

"I mean, you don't look like it, but the smell, and well…"

"What did I say about throwing around names?" Dionysus sighed. He gave the young man a look that was somewhere between a tired hungover and a rageful drug addict. "Yes, I am Dionysus, the god of wine,"

Eren's eyes widened. His mouth dropped. He gasped, the weight of his words finally sinking in.

"You're a Greek god,"

"I am," Dionysus agreed.

"You?!"

"Eren," Grover coughed.

Eren shared a look with the satyr. Then his eyes darted to Chiron who watched the situation unfold without saying anything, then his eyes went down to the table. He clutched his head with his hands, pushing his own fingers through his hair.

"So you figured that the Greek gods are real." Chiron spoke.

Eren Yeager didn't say anything to respond to that. Instead he kept his head down. Staring at the wooden planks on the floor.

"And you learned monsters are also real, you were right about the kindly one you fought at the Museum." Chiron continued his explanation, his voice never losing patience. "I am sorry I had to lie to you but at the time it seemed better to leave you in the dark. Otherwise you might attract even more of them."

"They are all real?" Eren asked, his head still down, his voice sounded shaky. "Zeus, Medusa, Kronos? Every single myth?"

"You better be careful with the names you throw around, kid," Dionysus said, although to Grover's surprise, it sounded almost empathetic.

"My friend is a Satyr, my mom was killed by a Minotaur and the girls at the lake must have been dryads or something. And Mr. D is the god of wine. Then you must Chiron, the one from the myths as well."

"Indeed Eren."

Eren raised his head. "So you are saying that all the Greek myths are real?"

Grover was surprised by the expression on the demigod's face. Chiron and Dionysus also seemed to be taken aback by the lack of shock or awe.

Grover had seen new demigods being explained the true nature of the world many times. Some were shocked and others refused to believe it, while others started to deny it.

But Eren's reaction was a new one he had never seen.

Tears fell down his cheeks as he looked at all the mythical beings in the room with him.

His horrified expression would haunt Grover years later.


A/N I finally updated this fic. I has been 3 total days, that is just unacceptable.

Thank you all for the reviews, I genuinely love reading your thoughts and even an acknowledgement of being appreciated helps a ton~!

-CaptainMoonShine-