I Play Cards With a God

After the whole, what's my Latin teacher doing here bit or I guess I should address him by Chiron now led us through the Big House to meet the director of the camp Mr. D. Mr. D also known as Dionysus the god of wine, the grape-harvest, festivity, madness, religious ecstasy and theater. If I remember correctly Mr. D was punished for chasing an off limits nymph and as a result ended up the stuck camp director along with the punishment of being prohibited from drinking alcohol while he served his sentence.

Note to self switch out Mr. D's diet coke with a pepsi. 😆

As Chiron led us throughout the Big House I took some time examining the horn in my hand. To be honest it didn't look like anything special minus the fact that the pointy end is fairly sharp. Maybe the space has some use for it.

Apparently the horn is from the minotaur that the predecessor of this body defeated before I woke up in it. I was also informed by Grover that there is a possibility that my mom, this body's mom, is still alive. Of course I already knew that information but I had to act like I didn't because as far as they know I've just been introduced to the world beyond the mist and I don't want to come off as suspicious.

The trip was short as we only had to cross a few rooms. Before long we reached the porch and were greeted with the sight of a man sitting on the far side of a card table. He has a chubby face, a red nose and curly hair that's so black that it looks purple. He was wearing a tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt along with purple running shoes.

Sitting next to him was Annabeth Chase. They seemed to be playing a card game. If I remember correctly Mr. D's card game of choice is called pinochle.

As their round ends as Chiron rolls his way to the table while indicating for Gover and myself to do the same.

Grover makes his way to a seat nearby looking like a nervous wreck. Facing Mr. D you could tell he was trying to minimize his presence probably because Grover's dream is to become a Search and find the god Pan. He's failed to get his searcher's license twice now the first time Thalia Grace "Died" the second time Percy's mother Sally Jackson was taken.

Grover was already on thin ice before he after the Thalia accident and with this second failure it's hard to imagine that the Council of Cloven Elders will give him a third chance. Mr. D one of the members of the council words carry a lot of weight if he angers Mr. D it could end badly on the off chance he does get another chance.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of my mind I try to focus on the god in front of me.

Sitting at the table I look at the cards on the table, "So pinochle, right. Deal me in?"

Surprised Mr. D looks to my direction clearly trying to get a read on me. Probably surprised that I know the game. If I hadn't read the Percy Jackson books in my past life I probably wouldn't even know the game existed much less how to play it.

"You know how to play?" he asks.

"I have some experience. At least I hope I have enough not to make a fool of myself."

"Ohh, you know how to play. In that case, how about a little wager?" Mr. D says as he passes out cards to me and himself.

"What do you have in mind? As you've probably noticed I'm not exactly flush right now. Unless you want this horn.", I say, laying the horn on the table.

He thinks for a few seconds before replying: "No I don't have much use for the horn, however I do have a better proposal. How about if I win you do a little quest for me."

"Mr. D", Chiron intercedes.

"He has just made his way to camp and he doesn't even have any proper training." He pauses for a second before continuing, "It would be unwise to send him out on a quest at this time."

"Sounds interesting however I do have a question." I say interrupting Chiron before he could continue.

"Ohh, and what might that be?", Mr. D asks.

"What do I get if I win?"

"Percy this wager would be most unwise." Chiron warns.

"It's fine." I attempt to reassure Chiron.

"Now Mr. D, what do I get if I win?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing much, I just want one of every plant within the property limits of the camp."

"One of every plant?", he asks, clearly confused by the strange request.

"Of course this includes the whole plant roots and all."

"Might I inquire about what you will do with them." He asks.

As we are talking I notice a glare a little too intensely for my liking.

Staring at me from the other side of the table is Annabeth. If I had to guess she's probably trying to figure out my angle and figure out if I'm the "One".

I wave at her with a smile which for my efforts I am rewarded with a scowl. 😭

After messing with Annabeth I turned my attention back to Mr. D.

"Do we have a wager then Mr. D?"

He seems to contemplate the odds before replying, "That we do Peter Johnson."

"First of all it's Percy Jackson. Second, we'll play three games. The first to win two games is the winner of our wager. Chiron you don't mind dealing with the first game do you and we will alternate the dealer every game. After Chiron, Grover followed by. I'm sorry, what's your name?" I asked the blonde to introduce herself.

"Annabeth Chase", She huffed out.

"Annabeth, you don't mind being a dealer do you."

"No problem", She replied.

"Are you sure about this Percy?" Chiron asks.

"Yep." I replied to Chiron before turning to Mr. D.

As we start to read our cards I make small talk with Mr. D.

"So Mr. D stand for something or are you just a One Piece fan?" I asked. Even though I already knew the answer.

"Young man names have power so don't use them casually. As for my name. I'm sure you remember your lessons in Chiron Latin class. Do you remember the stories about the gods?" He replied glossing over the One Piece line.

"Alright so Greek mythology that narrows it down. I'm guessing since Grover is a satyr any of the myths are on the table. And since you mention something I would learn in class you must be someone well known in the Greek myths." I pause for a second, seeming to contemplate my before asking.

"You wouldn't happen to be a God would you?"

A look of surprise appeared on their faces clearly not expecting me to narrow it down so quickly. The most shocked, being Grover who was rapidly looking back and forth between me and Mr. D.

"I'll take everyone's shocked faces as a yes." I say with a grin.

"Well that narrows it down the list. Male + Greek mythology + god + well known + the letter D i'm guessing your Dionysus the god of wine, the grape-harvest, festivity, madness, religious ecstasy, and theater."

Mr. D turns to Chiron, "You didn't tell him did you?"

"No I didn't", Chiron replied, shaking his head.

"You didn't either, did you?" Mr. D asks Grover, causing the young satyr to freeze before managing to stutter out.

"N…n..noo sir."

Mr. D seemed to contemplate this for a second before turning back to Chiron.

"In that case Chiron you taught this one well. I hope you survive Pierre Jorgensen."

"Again it's Percy Jackson. If you don't mind, let's start."

We make some small talk as Chiron passes you the cards.

As Mr. D raises his hand to read his card. I attempt to stop time.

Unfortunately as it's my first time I only manage to get time to stop after he'd stacked his cards.

To be completely honest I was worried about using this power for the first time on the off chance that one of them noticed. It doesn't help that I'm using these powers against a God who I'm not even sure my powers would work against.

Whoever after running some experiments through the first round I manage to get the hang of how these powers work and to my luck it even has the power to stop the gods. I tried this a few times to be sure before I started cheating just to make sure it worked on Mr. D. However even though I'm sure he's stuck in time I still take some extra precautions as I don't want to tip off Chiron, Mr. D, or the other gods that I have the ability to stop time as this could end up being my trump card later down the line.

Because of this I only read Mr. D's cards when he has them out in the open and don't mess with anything he is holding. As for stacking the deck you can be sure I did it just not when it was Chiron dealing as I believe it would be hard to pull a fast one on the old horse.

Unfortunately for me I lost the first game. Mostly because I was just getting the hang of my new power. The loss seemed to make Grover and Chiron a little worried. Annabeth on the other hand seemed to be a little disappointed as my first game ended in a big loss for me.

"Why the long faces everyone there's still two games left."

The next two games ended in a crushing defeat for Mr. D. Which seemed to mildly upset him however after he pulled himself together he was actually a fairly humble loser.

We talked for a while more.

It was decided that I would get my rewards in about a week after Mr. D has time to schedule the campers and staff to go collect my earnings.