Act II Chapter XXI: "Yeah, I don't know how to play this game."
"Are you sure about this, Lord Dionysus?" Chiron questioned. He stood next to Dionysus and was looking down at a table. The god sat next to the table, and there was some kind of game on it. Percy stared at the cards and then looked at the Olympian.
"I am sure," Dionysus stated. "Peter is a young man. He will know how to play this game."
"What are we playing?" Percy questioned. He studied the cards again and didn't hide his confusion. "Go Fish? Catch 21? It's not poker, is it? I hate poker!"
"This is Pinochle," Dionysus introduced as he placed a finger on the deck of cards.
"Pinocchio?" Percy repeated. Dionysus scowled instantly and gave Percy a piercing look.
"Pinochle!" Dionysus corrected. He stabbed his finger into the table and focused on Percy. "Not the stupid puppet!"
"I believe he is a wooden marionette," Chiron chimed in.
"Which is a puppet on strings," Dionysus said as his face turned so purple it looked like some of the grapes resting on the table.
"When I think of a puppet, I think of those sock puppets. That you put your hand inside," Percy said.
"A hand puppet is a hand puppet, and a marionette is a wooden puppet," Dionysus lectured with an annoyed tone. He lifted his finger from the card and pointed it at Percy. "And Pinochle is a game that all young, civilized men should know."
"Percy isn't a man!" Clarisse called as she walked past with a freshly sharpened spear in her hands. "Or civilized!"
Percy ignored the jab as he watched Clarisse walk away. Luke followed behind with a small bag of weapons. They had scrounged the entire camp to find any kind of weapons they could, and they had actually found some. And Percy got to clean them with Will and Drew. It was not that fun.
"Yeah, I don't know how to play this game," Percy began.
"Clearly," Dionysus muttered. He sighed deeply and began gathering up the cards. "Why do I even bother? Maybe Lupa will want to play fetch."
"Dion-" a look cut Percy off. "Lord Dionysus, I came here to ask a question. About the Olympians."
A sigh left Dionysus, and he motioned for Percy to sit. The god spoke, "Make it quick. I'm a very busy person."
"Well, about Olympus," Percy began.
"Can't help you there," Dionysus interrupted. "I hardly went there. Stuck in this miserable place on punishment and all that."
"But, you have to-"
"Chiron!" Drew shrieked. A small smile came to the Centaur's face.
"I should handle that," Chiron remarked. He moved from the table and moved his gaze to Dionysus. "Please play nice, Lord Dionysus."
Dionysus grunted. Chiron turned and walked away from the table, heading off to help Drew. Percy focused his gaze back on Dionysus and spoke, "I'm just curious about the vow that the Big Three wouldn't take."
"Have you been talking to Annabelle again?" Dionysus questioned.
"Annabeth."
"That's what I said."
"I do not know what the gods wanted to do about the children of the Big Three. I know some wanted to train them specially and prepare them for the future. Others wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth. Very easy for us gods, you know? We can just snap our fingers and poof," Dionysus explained.
"And this was because of the prophecy? Right?" Percy asked.
"I suppose," Dionysus replied.
"Do you know who wanted to do what? Who wanted to train them and who wanted to do the poofing?" Percy questioned. He wished that Dionysus would be more forthcoming. Instead, the Olympian shrugged.
"I only know what I wanted," Dionysus answered bluntly. He met Percy's eyes. "And, I do not think that one mere child should hold the fate of the world in his hands."
Percy felt his blood turn to ice at the piercing look that the god gave him. And the words he said. Percy swallowed painfully. Dionysus continued, "One child should not have the power to save or destroy Olympus. Don't you think?
"Even almighty Zeus had a council of eleven others that would help him make decisions," Dionysus stated. "So, why should the sea spawn of the most temperamental god that I know have that power?"
If Percy's blood was ice before, it was shattering inside of him. He collapsed into the free chair and stared at Dionysus. The god simply picked up the cards and started to shuffle through them, never breaking eye contact with Percy.
"I...um..."
"Hmm?"
"I...how?" Percy slowly asked. He swallowed painfully. "H...how did you know?"
Dionysus snorted, "I'm a god, Perseus."
"Then," Percy trailed off and stared ahead. He swallowed painfully and looked down. "C...can all the gods sense who I am?"
"Possibly," Dionysus replied. "It helps that Lupa told me."
Percy felt himself nodding, not sure if he should relax or not. Dionysus looked around and leaned forward, "Listen to me closely, Perseus. We have been running from this prophecy for decades now. It nearly destroyed the gods, and most of us are scattered. It is time to stop running."
"The problem with that is we only have three options. It will be a child of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades. And you know what, all of those options are terrible. The only child of Zeus that we know of is Thalia Grace, and she has been working closely with Artemis for the last few decades."
"I...is that a bad thing?" Percy slowly asked.
"Artemis, for one, would never let Thalia willingly take part in the prophecy, and if Thalia went behind her back... I also do not need a power hungry child of Zeus to decide whether I will be cast into Tartarus for all of eternity," Dionysus expounded.
"Is that what would happen to you?"
"Hypothetically."
"Oh."
"Then, we have Hades, who has always had a contentious relationship with his brothers and the other Olympians. In fact, he does not have a seat on the council. I would not be surprised if we went to Olympus and found he had taken over.
"Which leaves us with you. I've watched you, Perseus. You seem to be genuine in your desire to bring the gods back. You care about your fellow demigods, and Lupa seems to think you have a good head on your shoulders. We shall see," Dionysus stated.
"I will be watching you closely, and we will see if you are truly the child of prophecy. It is up to you to train, so we can give you the best fighting chance that we can," Dionysus finished. A sigh left him, and he snapped his fingers. A diet Coke appeared in his hands.
"Do you know the prophecy?" Percy questioned.
"No," Dionysus grunted between gulps.
"Would the Oracle know? Because we found her," Percy began.
"Perhaps," Dionysus stated. He waved his hand. "Now go bother someone else."
Percy slowly stood as he tried to process everything Dionysus had said. His shoulders felt a lot heavier now. Percy cleared his throat and spoke, "Does that mean you're going to be nicer to me now?"
"Not in a million years, Peter."
"Good to know," Percy said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but he heard a yell from across the camp.
"Demigods!" Clarisse called. "And a few monsters. Everyone get your asses to the hill!"