"Now Lord Dionysus you have every right to be upset and I just...AAAAAHHHHHH!" I never finished because the vines just let me go and I dropped at least two hundred feet. Right before I hit the ground the vines grabbed me again and flipped me around. The Lord of Wine stood right in front of me now as the vines wrapped around my neck.

I could barely breath as the vines tightened "I warned you so long ago that you shouldn't anger me! That I could snap your mind and rip you apart with vines! You killed my son and now you shall pay the price!" he said angrily as purple flames burned in his eyes. I have never been more scared in my entire life and I think I'm man enough to admit, my pants became wet in this little instance.

"Sir...I didn't...I couldn't...control" I had no oxygen the vines were too tight. I could almost feel my larynx begin to crack as my vision tunneled. I thought my punishment was over but this was so much worse than I ever imagined. Dionysus was going to kill me, gods held grudges and this particular god hated me already at least more than most campers. The vines, for some reason, began to burn my throat as it strangled me and that just made the pain even more intense. This is it, no one can stand up to a god not even Chiron. This is where I die.

Then the explosion happened.

A massive explosion of red smoke ignited in between the Olympian and I. The vines retracted and I fell to the ground retching and holding my throat. I looked up and saw Dionysus glaring at the person that stood in between us. She was a tall woman and she wore blue jeans, black Nike sneakers and was wearing a grey windbreaker over her t-shirt that said 'Guns don't kill people. I kill people'. She turned to look at me and I saw that she had black hair, soft features, and...red...eyes?

"Mother?" I asked in a weak voice and the woman gave me a soft smile.

"What is the meaning of this Eris?!" Dionysus spat and Eris grinned widely as she walked over and ruffled his hair.

"Good to see you too baby brother!" she said before pulling him into a hug. What the Hades? It was like they were little kids and she was the bully of a big sibling.

Dionysus pulled away and glared at her and then me, a few more vines wrapped around my wrists but then something pretty awesome happened. My mother punched Dionysus right in his fat nose! He stumbled and fell down, Ichor pouring from his nose as he looked at Eris in shock. She was glaring at him "You are not going to hurt my favorite child Diny! He has sacrificed so much and gained so little!" she growled. Am I really the cause of this sibling brawl? Kinda cool!

Dionysus got to his feet "He murdered my son! I demand justice and I will have it by having his head!" he roared. Eris rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Always with the dramatics! You're the god of theater so it shouldn't surprise me but tell me what did you plan to do exactly? If you kill him than you will face my wrath. You remember what that's like don't you brother?" she asked with a smug smile. Dionysus winced as if remembering all of the wedgies she used to give him. I highly doubt that's what happened but I like to think that's what it was. If I had popcorn I would have been enjoying the show, but I was still pretty dazed and I didn't register anything after my mother said I was her favorite child.

"I was planning on snapping his mind. For a few days at least no harm done. Now if you will excuse me I wish to continue with my punishment. Do not interfere sister!" he barked and Eris just stared at him like he was the biggest idiot on earth.

"You...You seriously want to fight me on this? You want to fight the goddess of conflict? I see the millennia have not made you any smarter Diny. You were stupid when you were mortal and you are stupid now. Let me put it this way, if one more of your vines touches Samuel I will go tell Ariadne about the real reason you are suspended from Olympus." she threatened and for once Dionysus actually looked scared. He waved his hands and the vines retracted into the earth and the flames vanished in his eyes.

Dionysus glared at me before he turned to the entire camp that had watched the whole thing in shocked silence. Dionysus huffed angrily "Unless you want to be driven to madness you saw nothing and you heard nothing! Now flee immediately!" he shouted and the entire camp ran away. He gave me one more hard glare and then vanished leaving behind the strong scent of grapes.

Then it was just me and my mother.

She looked at me and she smiled warmly, like she wasn't the goddess of fighting and arguments. She smiled like she was a loving mother who had just come home and saw her children. She looked like a regular woman fresh out of college and not the vengeful goddess that attacked my siblings just a few years ago and sucked them into a fire to most likely punish them.

The only thing between us that was similar was our eyes. My hair was much darker and none of our facial features were similar in the slightest. Unless you saw the eyes you would never think we were related that she was my mother! She said I was her favorite but that doesn't mean she might not hurt me, for all I know this goddess shows her appreciation with punches in the gut. I had heard rumors about Ares and that he can be abusive to his kids, maybe she was too. Suddenly I wasn't so happy to see her now.

I gulped hard as she walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Let's take a walk son."

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