Chapter 7- A Trip to the Dionysus Cabin

Dae's POV

Right now I am trying to find the Dionysus Cabin. This should be easy, but it isn't. Thinking about what happened after I got claimed confuses me even more...

Flashback

The first person to talk is my new half-brother.

"I have a sister!" he says in amazement. Joselyn rolls us over toward where he is sitting. He stands awkwardly and walks towards me. We don't hug, don't high-five each other like normal just-met-brother-and-sister. We just stand there staring, dead silence in the room. I can smell him from where I am sitting; Alcohol and grapes. Kacey clears her throat.

"Greg Allchoo, meet your sister Dae."

The first thing my just-met half brother says to me is:

"No last name?"

I slowly nod my head, still shocked by all of this. He looks at me expectantly.

"Well? What is it?"

I study him. Greg has messy black hair like Dionysus'. He looks half Greek, one quarter African, and one quarter Polish, yet he speaks perfect English. The only thing that resembles his father is his hair and his eyes. Greg looks about 18 years old, standing at about 6ft 1 inch. For some reason, I don't trust him.

"I'm not telling you," I whisper to him. He gives me a look of hate and hurt.

"Not telling your own brother?!"

His eyes turn a dark murky green color. Suddenly thick green vines sprout from the ground, grabbing me off of Joselyn's lap. The Head of –what I'm guessing- Ares brings out a sword and cuts the vines off while another person restrains Greg. The vines shrink back into the ground, releasing me onto my feet. I yelp in pain as my knees buckle and I fall, almost hitting the floor. Almost. A guy- not sure what cabin he is from- catches me.

Once all the drama is over, everyone settles down a bit and Greg is escorted out by the Head of the Ares Cabin. I get to sit in the Dionysus chair while the council discusses different ways to possibly heal my legs.

"How about an Apollo kid plays a healing hymn?" A girl suggests.

"No, we tried that already," Sandra replies.

"What about rubbing Nectar on the wound?" Brittany Beau suggests. Everyone looks at her like she is crazy.

"Rubbing it in would be the same as if she drank Nectar, and we don't want to kill her!" Exclaims the girl from Athena. An idea comes to me while looking at the Hermes twins.

"What if you rub or pour Alcohol on them? I mean, I woke up because they spiked the Nectar, so it should work if the alcohol isn't mixed with anything; the power of healing would be greater."

Everyone's eyes are on me. Kacey whispers something to Eva. Evaline nods while standing up and leaves the room in a rush.

After Eva is gone, Kacey looks at me empathetically.

"Now, I will warn you, this might hurt and cause some pain on your part."

My eyes widen.

"P-p-p-p-pain?" I stammer, my voice rising up a few octaves. Everyone suddenly is so far away. Someone from the end of the table voices up.

"Do you have a fear of pain?" he asks with a half chuckle, half serious tone.

"Why would you say that?"

He grins. "Well, for one thing, as soon as the word pain was mentioned, you jumped up and subconsciously used your power over vines to get up on the ceiling."

He's right. The boy crawls up the veins to where I am on the ceiling with such swiftness all I can do is gape. Now I can see he him better and I instantly feel that I can trust him without knowing why or how.

"Come on, let's return to the ground."

For some reason I obey him. His voice is so gentle and calming. I slide down the vines back into the Dionysus chair.

The girl from the Athena Cabin- Her name tag states that her name is Adria Athane- looks at me as if she is studying. Without a single notice in advance she reaches out and hugs me.

"I feel bad for you" she whispers in my ear as we pull away.

"Why?"

"Demigods feel pain quite often."

With that, Eva walks in the room.

"The Dionysus Cabin is ready for you"

End Flashback

Now we are heading to the Dionysus Cabin. I have Joselyn, Sandra, the guy who got me down from the ceiling, Eva, and Kacey with me. Kacey wants me to navigate so I can learn how to get around camp. They promised to help out if I ever get too confused. Finally, after I thought I was lost, a cabin with vines hanging down from the roof and party streamers thrown at random places comes into view. Kacey sighs with relief.

"As a reward, would you like me to pull you the rest of the way?"

Since I am a thrill seeker, I nod my head. Kacey then draws out a rope and ties it around her "waist" then passes the other end to me to hold on to.

The feeling is great! The wind in my hair, the adrenaline rush, the styling chair- which the Aphrodite kids let me use to get around- is hitting every little bump … and the feeling of falling. I suddenly remember that time on the cliff and what happened...

"Stop, STOP!" I yell. Kacey stops, the others running to catch up. The guy's face is full of concern.

"What is it?"

I shake my head 'no'.

"Why won't you tell us? Why won't you tell us anything about you?" His voice not full of frustration, but with curiosity. I look into his navy blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's just I don't know you guys too well, and you're all crazy!"

"What do you mean crazy?" He asks in a cautionary tone.

"Well, do you people really think this is all real? Like, Greek gods and stuff? For all I know I could just be having a very vivid dream! I will wake up back at Campbell High with my friends Rhys Henderson and Emily MacDooley beside me." I realize I just gave them the names of my two best friends AND the school I go to. The guy smiles while writing down the information he just learned.

"CRAP!" I exclaim. He smiles at me, half chuckling.

"Hmm… Who knew getting you frustrated would get you to spill some secrets you have been hiding."

I blush as we walk/roll the rest of the way to the Dionysus Cabin, in silence.

Everyone stares at me. All 32 of my half-brothers -yes ALL of them are brothers- stare at me, 64 green eyes in my direction. Everyone's hair is black like mine. It is awkwardly silent, as if they are all waiting for some sort of cue. Kacey breaks the silence.

"So... What are you boys waiting for? Get to work! And remember, that wine is not for drinking. It's for healing Dae!"

The crowd gets to work, setting up a bed- since the only available table would be a ping pong table- for me to lie on. A couple of my brothers bring out some wine coolers filled with different brands. The one who seems to be "in charge" walks over to where I am sitting.

"Okay, so we have come up with three variations of your idea. The first option is you drink 5 full bottles of wine. The second is half of us will hold you down while the other half pours it into your wound. The third is that we inject it into the blood stream."

I wince.

"Is there a less painful option?" I ask hopefully. My brother gives me a weird look.

"No. Just pick one!"

"Well, I don't like needles, and I don't think I can chug 5 bottles of wine." I think out loud.

"Alright," he gestures for all of the smaller, under 14, Demi-gods to leave, not wanting them to hear my predicted screams. Then he gestures to the guy who caught me in the meeting, (he's not one of my brothers).

"Aelix, will you please pick her up and place her over there on the bed?"

The guy, Aelix, does just that. He leaves, but before catching up with the rest of the girls, Aelix looks in through the window and sighs.

I now count twelve of my brothers, all surrounding me, staring at me. I see a figure walk out of the shadows. Greg.

"What are all of you waiting for? She's not going to feel pain with you guys just standing there staring!" he barks angrily. The others all get into position. 9 of them behind me restraining me, while four, (counting Greg), are in my view. Greg leans down so he is a mere centimeters from my face.

"This is going to be fun." He whispers evilly...

This is HELL. After Greg gets away from my face, everyone's hands tighten on my arms. I try to scream, but an extra hand covers my mouth. I try to kick, but it hurts my legs. Greg comes around to my face, starting to stroke it.

"Don't cry little sister. And it's no use to kick or get away."

I give him a murderous look, but it's hard with a hand over my mouth. Greg reaches for a bowl; I'm watching his every move. He notices me staring and thrusts the bowl in my direction.

"Want a grape?"

I shake my head 'no'.

"A Dionysus kid who doesn't like grapes? Wow."

Just then, my legs feel as if flames are coming from my cuts. Reflexively, I kick. Greg rolls his eyes, and nods at one of the skinnier boys. I shut my eyes, expecting him to bring me pain, but instead, I feel a weight on my thighs. I open my eyes, surprised to see the skinny kid sitting on my legs. He weighs just enough to restrain me from kicking.

After a few minutes of Greg eating grapes, the skinny guy examining my face, and listening to the odd conversations that my brothers who are holding me down are having, the hand over my mouth drops! I let out a high-pitched, horror movie scream then start cursing and yelling at my brothers. When my tantrum stops, Greg motions the skinny kid to get off of me. Greg then takes the skinny guy's place on my legs while making a tsk noise.

"She's a feisty little one, isn't she?" He says to the others. I notice there is a butcher's knife in Greg's pocket, just close enough for me to grab… and the door is just 2 and a half meters away... I also notice that Greg is distracted. This is my chance. I grab the knife and scratch three of the holders' hands, just wanting to get away; not caring how badly it would hurt them. Next, I make a scratch on Greg's hand and thigh. He stands up yelling,

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, (knocking over a few wine bottles in the process), and run for the door. I am just about to pull it open, when arms wrap around my waist. Greg laughs as he carries me back over to the bed. This time, he conjures up some vines to secure me.

He is still laughing when he finishes with the vines. I shoot him a look of hatred but I don't say anything that I am thinking.

After about 5 minutes I finally ask,

"What's so funny?"

He looks at me with love, compassion, and hysteria. The only thing I could do was cock my head to the side in confusion.

"I bet you didn't notice during your little 'get away' plan that your legs are healed."