Three chapters in a day? I'm on a roll!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJO, capiche? Capoche.

Chapter Three

I Run Into Trouble

Making my way back to the Hermes cabin, I felt compelled to call myself stupid. How could I NOT see that Dionysus was my dad? I mean, we had the same black, unruly hair and the same purple eyes. I mentally facepalmed.

Gathering my things, I felt a tinge of sadness. I had just been put it the Hermes cabin, and now was moving? I said farewell to my newly-acquired friends and met Chiron outside the cabin. He led me across the walkway to cabin 12, the Dionysus cabin. The cabin was entwined with grape vines, its purple paint looking in much better shape than the paint on the Hermes cabin. I turned the brass doorknob slowly, waving goodbye to Chiron, who was now in centaur form. Entering the building, I found my father and another boy around the age of eighteen sitting on beds opposite from each other, chatting. I cleared my throat, and they both turned to look at me. Dionysus gave me a warm smile. Okay............? I laid my suitcase down by the bed that my dad silently asked me to join him on. Once I sat down, I shook the boy's hand. "I'm Danielle Cooper, but you can call me Coop." It seemed like I'd said that about a million times that day. Shocked, he reached out for my hand, taking it in a soft shake.

"I'm Pollux," he half-whispered. He looked like he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. Dionysus spoke up.

"Danielle, I'm not really good at this whole father thing, so forgive me if I do it incorrectly." He seemed so out of character. He pulled a golden jewelry box from his pocket, pulling out a necklace. It was the most brilliant piece of jewelry I'd ever seen. It was tawny-colored with a charm in the shape of a grapevine. He slipped it over my head.

"The magic words are Η μόνη μου ελπίδα."

"My only hope," I translated softly. I tried it myself. "Η μόνη μου ελπίδα!" The chain morphed from a grapevine charm to a Celestial bronze sword encircled by vines. I tried holding it, but it proved to heavy. Dionysus chuckled. He straightened my arm, making me stand and squaring my shoulders. The sword became lighter instantly, and I smiled. I said the magic words, and it became a necklace again.

"Thank you," was all I could mutter.

"No problem." Dionysus hugged Pollux, then kissed the top of my head. I could tell this sort of thing felt awkward to him. "Good night." He left the cabin, and both Pollux and I lay down.

After a few minutes of silence, I asked, "Were you always by yourself in here?"

He answered reluctantly. "No. I had a brother, Castor. He was a little older than me. He died in the battle against Kronos two years ago." I could hear his voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Oh," was all I said. I decided to stop talking to him and get some rest. I smuggled Mr. Snuggles out of my luggage and fell asleep to the soft sobbing of Pollux.

The next morning at breakfast was quiet. Neither of us Dionysus children said a word. After breakfast, I met up with Percy and Annabeth to head to sword and shield with Clarisse, a not-so-nice Ares daughter. Of course, most of the Ares children were not-so-nice.

An awkward moment of silence passed as I approached the two sucking each other's faces off.

"Okay, I know you two love each other, but I'm only fourteen. Could we please keep it PG for now?"

Percy chuckled and Annabeth blushed. "Sorry Coop," she said.

"No problem," I stated.

We all headed off to the arena for training, even though Percy didn't really need it. I'd learned from Alvin that he'd been invulnerable ever since he bathed in the River Styx. Once we started discussing how camp was going for me, I stepped in front of them, walking backwards. I eagerly told them all about how cool Dionysus could be. For that, I received two cocked eyebrows. When I got to the part about how I thought Alvin was sort of cute, I blushed and Annabeth smiled, leaving Percy to fake gag. I even showed them the magical gift from my father, which I was pretty proud of. When I told them about how quiet breakfast was, Annabeth went wide-eyed and yelled, "Coop! Watch out!"

Too late. I landed flat on my back, sprawled on top of another camper. I swiftly jumped up and apologized, holding my hand out to the camper. I realized it was the boy with the onyx eyes. Trouble.

"I don't need your help," he glared. He stood up, dusted himself off, and stalked away.

"Well, he's rude," I said matter-of-factly.

"He's Nico," Percy replied. "He's always rude."

Yay! Third chapter complete! Looks like Danielle and Nico are gonna have some difficulties. Yikes! Please review!