Act II Chapter VII: "I'm all in."

Percy was having the time of his life. He and Will jumped from arcade game to arcade game, just having a blast. They weren't too concerned about beating high scores or making it too far in the game. They just played until they got bored and moved on to the next one.

The two of them played until their stomachs gnawed from hunger. They decided to make their way toward the bar to order food, and that was when Percy noticed the time. His eyes widened, "We've been playing for three hours!"

"What?" Will asked. His gaze shot to the clock. "How did we play for that long?"

"Because you two deserve to be kids," Luke said as he walked next to them. He was holding onto two baskets. One was full of chicken fingers, and the other had fries. "I wanted you two to have a day of fun."

"But the quest," Will began. Luke motioned with his head. Percy followed the motion to a pudgy man sitting at the bar. He had a large bottle in front of him that was full of white liquid. His gaze was fully on the group playing Pac-Man.

"Is that Dionysus?" Percy slowly asked. The man in front of him did not look like a god. For one, he was fat. Percy remembered the Disney movie and the different bits of art from the Greek myths. The gods were these ripped figures with eight pack abs that a wrestler would be jealous of. This man was not that. "That can't be him!"

"I have this feeling in my gut," Luke replied as he looked at them. "He had this silver goblet, and there was nectar inside. Mortals can't drink nectar. It's a godly thing that will burn them right up."

"It might not have been nectar," Will argued. He took a huge bite of a chicken tender. "Wow, this is really good. Sorry. There are a lot of different drinks here. It could be something else. Like that drink on the special menu. Blinky?"

"Pac-Man character," Percy informed. "Did you try asking this guy if he was Dionysus?"

"I did, and he said he had never heard of him," Luke answered. "But, I just know it."

"He doesn't look godly," Percy commented. "He looks more like a homeless guy."

"I guess all of the gods might look like that," Will commented. Percy looked at the pudgy man again. The way that he swayed made it look like he was going to fall off of the stool. But, there was something too good about the swaying. It was like a rhythm, not the spastic swaying a drunk person would have.

Thanks to Smelly Gabe and his stupid poker buddies, Percy had been around plenty of drunk people. He knew how they acted, so that was why he watched the man closely. Yes, the dude had bloodshot eyes, but beyond the red of the eye was the color purple.

Who had purple eyes? Not anyone normal that Percy knew. Percy chewed on a chicken tender and watched the man drink his wine. The way that he was chugging the alcohol meant he was either a god or an alcoholic who really needed help.

"Let's say that is Dionysus. How do we get his attention?" Will asked. "What if he doesn't know who he is?"

"He mentioned that someone was getting close to his high score," Luke supplied. "But, he was sleeping in the bathroom, woke up, and noticed that. How is that the first thing that he noticed?"

"Chiron said that Dionysus is obsessed with Pac-Man. And, I know that the gods are egotistical creatures. Maybe, we can get his attention by beating his high score. Does anyone here play Pac-Man?" Luke asked. "Because I haven't played any."

"I've only played a little," Will answered. His gaze moved to Percy. "You?"

"Pac-Man is my life," Percy stated confidently, a smirk cracking his face. "I'm kidding. It's not my life, but I did play it a lot as a kid. It kept me out of trouble. I'm rusty, but..."

Percy popped his neck and stretched his arms, "I'm ready to do this. But first, what is his high score?"

The three of them turned their heads to look at the large board across the room. It stated the top ten high scores, and Percy's jaw dropped as he saw each of the ten scores was over three million. He looked at the others.

"I don't think I can beat that," Percy began. He looked at the other two. "What can we do now?"

"Well, what if you pretend that you can?" Will questioned. He stabbed forward with a fry. "Luke said that the gods are egotistical creatures, so if they are, we just have to threaten him with losing his high score. That should be enough to spring him to action."

"But if Percy can't get close enough," Luke began.

"That's why we fake it until we make it," Will stated. "Let Dionysus know that we are coming for his high score and look confident. Make it look easy. Hopefully, he'll start to sweat soon."

"It won't hurt to try," Percy said.

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "We just need to get his attention."

"Hey, Dionysus!" Percy called. The pudgy man jumped slightly but didn't turn to look at him. "I'm going to beat your high score on Pac-Man! Sound good?"

The presumed god didn't say a word, but his knuckles went white as his hand tightened around the wine bottle. Luke stared at Percy like he was crazy, but thankfully, Will pushed forward and spoke, "Yeah! Beat his high score, Percy!"

"No way," a guy chimed in from near them. He was standing around a Pac-Man machine with a few others. "No one beats Dio's score!"

"I'm going to," Percy swore. The guy stepped to the side and motioned to the machine. Percy was very aware of the rabid Pac-Man fans who were standing around. Were they expecting some kind of Pac-Man related duel?

Percy tried to keep a confident look on his face as he placed both hands on the joysticks of the Pac-Man machine. The crowd seemed to grow as he started. Playing Pac-Man as a kid had somehow prepared him for this moment, but he always played for fun. He didn't play to try and beat a god.

There was a first for everything, though.

Percy focused on the level in front of him. He always found it satisfying to clean the level of those tiny white balls and avoid getting hit by ghosts. It was a nice adrenaline rush when he was younger. Not so much now that he had fought actual monsters and destroyed them.

The first few levels were cleared with ease, and it didn't seem to get much harder. Percy was so focused that he knew where every ghost was at all times, and he remembered in order where they were released. And what pattern and routes they moved along.

In the back of his mind, he realized that this was what Annabeth must have meant by telling him that his ADHD was part of his battle skills. His brain was able to process everything faster. And all that sword training with Luke was full of patterns and how to recognize the flow of a battle.

Percy was recognizing the patterns of these ghosts, and he was flying through the levels. His confidence grew as he cleared the floors, and maybe, those three million points wouldn't be so unattainable after all. The group around him started to grow, but Percy paid no attention to them.

He had little white balls to chomp.

Time seemed to blend together as Percy focused on the levels. Someone held out soda for him to sip every so often, and he swore that someone wiped sweat from his forehead once or twice. As his points racked up to a million, a grin settled his face.

"You're doing amazing," Luke remarked.

"Don't ruin his concentration," Will warned.

"This is easy!" Percy said with joy on his face.

Then, the machine went dark.

Percy stared at the dark screen and heard a groan from the crowd. He stared down at the controls and then looked at the plug. It was still in, so what had happened.

"Man, you were doing so good," someone complimented.

"You were totally going to beat Dio's score!"

"I bet he was shaking in his boots!"

"Oh, no. What a shame," the pudgy man drawled. Percy turned to look at him, and the man scowled at him. Percy marched right over to him.

"Scared of losing, Dionysus?" Percy teased.

"I don't know who that is," the pudgy man stated.

"Yes, you do. Because you're him," Percy challenged.

"Listen here, Peter Johnson. I-"

"-am a god because you almost knew my name and have never met me before."

Not Dionysus scowled at him. Luke stepped forward and cleared his throat, "Lord Dionysus, please. We know that you can't always remember who you are."

"Listen," Dionysus interrupted as he turned toward them. "I know exactly who I am. I know exactly who you are. This is a sacred day, and I do not need a bunch of demigods to ruin it!"

"Wait," Will began as he looked between them. "If you know that we're demigods, why are you pretending like you're not Dionysus?"

"Because I do not need my afternoon ruined by demigods with grand plans that will ultimately end with them inside the belly of a monster!" Dionysus stated as he waved down the bartender. "More wine!"

"Chiron has been keeping an eye on you," Luke said. "You have to remember him, don't you?"

A deep sigh left Dionysus. He turned toward them, "I'm not lost like the other Olympians, Lance. I know exactly where I am, I know who I am, and I know what year it is. Unlike my brethren, I have been in control of my actions the entire time."

"Wait. Chiron said that you didn't recognize him," Percy began. "You wouldn't acknowledge him."

"How else would I get the old man to leave me alone?" Dionysus questioned. He waved his hand at them. "Now buzz off."

"You have to come back with us," Will pleaded.

"No. I don't. In fact, I will be glad to never have to think of that wretched place again," Dionysus stated. "As I'm sure Chiron told you, my punishment was to watch brats like you at Camp Half-Blood. The Romans coming along and burning the place to the ground was the best thing that could have ever happened."

"Y...you can't mean that," Percy exhaled as he stared at the god. Dionysus rolled his eyes and turned his back to them. He drank his wine again. Percy looked back at his friends. "How are we going to convince him?"

"We can't," Will said dejectedly. Luke placed a hand to their shoulders.

"It's like I said earlier, the gods are egomaniacs," Luke said as he leaned in close. "I have a plan. We play on Dionysus' pride and challenge him again."

"Is that going to work?" Will questioned as he looked at them nervously. Luke nodded his agreement. Percy looked between the two of them.

"Challenging a god doesn't seem very smart," Percy stated. He grinned at Luke. "I'm all in."