So, there is a time skip in this chapter and few more will follow from now on. There are still a few chapters of Diana's childhood in front of us, but I will try to keep this arc as short as possible. Unfortunately, I can't leave any of them out, so please bear with me. Diana's childhood is a very important part of this story.

One of the things I wanted to try exploring in 'The Grape Garden' was what influence being raised by a god could have on a person. Diana obviously won't belong to the most well-adjusted people in the world because of it.

If there are any things you would like to see Diana do or experience before this arc ends, then please tell me of them in a PM or review.

Lastly, I have decided on a pairing for Diana. It's slightly...unconventional, one could say, but I think that it's an interesting path to explore.

Please leave a review.

Summary: Amelia Babineaux died in a sea of wine, as a daughter of Dionysus she lived again. [SI, Self-Insert/OC-Insert]

Have fun.

Chapter 9

Little Bird

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Where She Learned To Fly

"I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever."

― Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire

That day Diana woke up early in the morning to the sight of a pile of presents next to her bed. They were wrapped in a colorful paper and clearly mostly from her father.

(...it was sad because in this life Diana only had a handful of people to care about and whom cared about her in return...)

From the looks of it, there were many books there as well as a few undeniably adorable shirts and dresses.

Dionysus knew better than to give her childish toys she would never truly use.

Once she excited her room in the cabin, Diana was greeted by her father with a chocolate cake in his hands. Fife glowing candles were positioned on top of the baked good, slowly starting to drip wax onto the icing.

The god smiled softly at her, his violet eyes gleaming ethereally in the dim morning light. ''Happy birthday, Diana.''

It was at times like this that the young girl found herself more than a little astonished. Her father always managed to surprise her with his actions. Normally, none of what he did could have been considered as surprising.

But nothing about her current situation could be considered as normal. Dionysus was a god and by now he should not even have any contact with her.

And yet, here he was, holding what looked to be self-made cake in his hands and smiling down at her proudly.

How many children could claim that their godly parent even wished them a happy birthday?

''You know, you should blow out the candles before the whole cake is ruined,'' muttered a familiar voice from behind her father. Diana could not help the involuntary widening of her smile once her gaze landed on Ichneutae. ''Happy birthday, squirt.''

Smiling softly at her two most important people in this life, Diana murmured, ''Thank you.''

With a hand on her head, Dionysus started leading her towards the couch. There he put down her birthday cake on the low table and raised both of his eyebrows, prompting her to make a wish and blow out the burning candles.

Leaning forward and brushing a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, the demigod tried to come up with an appropriate wish. As the candles were already half-way gone, she did not have much time to do so.

Before she could think too much about the whole thing, an impatient satyr took a picture of her with his camera and snorted derisively. ''You're ruining the cake, Diana.''

After rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue childishly in his direction, the blonde opened her mouth and blew out all five candles at once. Her eyes were closed as she silently wished for a happy future.

Diana did not know whether wishing for such a thing even made sense. Whether it would help her at all.

What she knew was that she had been reborn into a world where almost everything seemed to be possible. A world in which gods existed and monsters walked the earth.

Was it truly so far-fetched to think that perhaps someone was listening to her silent wish? That perhaps someone in this world would be capable of fulfilling it?

''Well, what did you wish for?'' asked the satyr while taking a few more photos. He even made a few with both Diana and her father sitting next to each other.

''I'm not telling you,'' Diana answered, her mouth twisting upwards gleefully. ''That's what you get for rushing me. Besides, if I tell you, it won't come true.''

''Of course.'' Dionysus nodded his head. ''You don't have to tell him anything, my sweet daughter, though if your wish is something I can fulfill, you're welcome to tell me.''

Laughing gently, she leaned her body against her father's arm. ''It's not something tangible, Dad, but I think that even without me telling you, you'll still try to fulfill it.''

He hummed thoughtfully. ''I see.''

Carefully, Diana smoothed out her shirt and looked out of the window. ''How about we eat some of the cake now and afterwards you can tell me about the special something you've planned for me today, Dad.''

Sometimes, the girl wondered if the adults in her life were stupefied by her proficient speech. She might not have had anyone to compare herself to, but Diana still thought that she probably sounded pretty advanced for a kid of her physical age.

Still, it wasn't as if she could do anything against it. Diana did not have it in herself to act like a complete child. The only thing she could do was to try toning down her unusual behavior.

''You're quite impatient, huh?'' Chuckling, the god patted her head gently. With just a wave of his hand he conjured three plates and forks for them.

As he did not yet trust her with a knife, Dionysus cut the cake into medium sized pieces by himself.

The girl was happy to note that she received the largest piece.

''Before we go anywhere, you'll have to go eat breakfast first, Diana,'' said the god, his voice light and amused. He was fully aware that she was not interested in eating breakfast after being kept in the dark about today's plans for more than a week.

Diana pouted and widened her eyes cutely. ''I thought the cake was my breakfast.''

''I can take it away and give it back to you after breakfast,'' he explained pleasantly, leaving no room for any other arguments.

Diana stuffed a forkful of cake into her mouth and kept it wisely shut.

After eating some toast for breakfast, Diana left the Dinning Pavilion alongside her father. The moment they stepped out of the room, the girl was heaved onto Dionysus' shoulders, her hands reflexively grabbing his hair.

The squeal that escaped her lips was full of unbidden joy.

From her new position, Diana could observe her surroundings more thoroughly. She could see the training grounds in the distance as well as the way the other campers regarded her.

By now, she was familiar with the rather scathing looks of some of the children.

Besides, it wasn't as if she could even fault them for their jealousy. Diana herself would have been no better in their position.

''Where are we going, Dad?'' she questioned to distract herself. It was obvious that their destination was somewhere inside the camp - Dionysus could not risk angering his father any more than he already had. - but that did not help Diana in narrowing down the options.

Her father chuckled as he felt her gently tugging his hair. ''You'll see soon enough.''

And see soon enough she did. Within about five minutes, the pair arrived at what Diana knew to be the stables. She had never been inside of them before, but it wasn't hard to guess what their plans were once she caught a sight of them.

An excited laugh passed her lips as she leaned forward and against her father's head. The position must have been uncomfortable for the god, but he did not say a thing against it.

''Are we going to see the pegasus?'' the little girl asked, her voice full of wonder and disbelieve.

It was one thing to know that she lived in a fictional world and a completely other thing to come across real life myths. The centaurs and satyrs had been already huge surprises and Diana could not wait to finally see a winged horse.

''We're not just going to see them, my sweet child,'' he begun. ''We're going to go flying.''

Diana uttered a loud sound of childish elation and promptly asked her father to move a little faster.

(...they must have looked comical...

...

...a god following the whims of a child as she gripped his hair tightly and tried to unconsciously steer his body...)

They could not reach the stables fast enough and when they finally did, Diana's eyes were as wide as dinner plates and full of amazement. Impatiently, she watched her father as he pushed their last obstacle open and then she finally saw.

The horses were more beautiful than anything the girl had ever seen. Larger than their mortal counterpart, six of them stood in individual compartments. All but one were colored in different shades of brown with flecks of black and white.

Although their wings were folded, Diana could already recognize that they were huge.

What surprised her the most, however, was the intelligence that was so clearly reflected in their eyes. Intelligence animals normally never possessed.

Their high intellect was also clear in the way they treated her once she was finally in their vicinity. Before they had entered the stables, Dionysus had settled her down on his hip, so that she could reach the horses better. The animals clearly recognized what her father was, but that wasn't all they did.

Applepie - A little flabbergasted, Diana wondered who named these horses. - was a coffee colored mare that gently sniffed the hand the young demigod reached out with. There was something very deliberate about the pegasus' action that actually made Diana wonder if the horse was just humoring her.

The way it looked at her was decidedly weird, though not in an uncomfortable.

''Wait here,'' said Dionysus as he put her onto the ground. ''I'll get the saddle.''

Diana just hummed in agreement as she was still preoccupied with petting the pegasus.

By the time her father came back with the saddle, Applepie was nipping at her hair and neighing softly as Diana giggled.

Within a few minutes the pegasus was saddled properly and Diana on its back. She was slightly surprised when her father did not put her on the saddle, but in front of it. The girl might not have known much about horses, but she was pretty sure that this was not the proper way to ride them.

Fortunately, it turned out that Dionysus just wanted to make enough place for himself to get onto Applepie as well. Afterwards he pulled Diana in front of himself, so that they were sharing the saddle slightly awkwardly. He proceeded to wrap a strong arm securely around her waist.

Confidently, the god steered Applepie out of the stable and before the platinum haired child really knew what was happening, they were flying.

She could feel the pegasus' muscles moving underneath her palms and the strong gusts or wind each beat of its wings created.

The camp was positively tiny bellow them, the other campers nothing but small dots upon the ground.

Diana laughed in utter joy.

Even if she had wanted to, the girl could not have stopped herself from silently applauding her uncle for the creation of such magnificent beings.