Act II Chapter XIII: "There is still much for us to do."
"If any of you ever try to force me into one of your so-called taxis again, I will turn you into an animal and throw you into the zoo," Dionysus hissed as they started to walk up the hill. The god had wanted to just disappear out of the taxi in the middle of their drive, and they had to convince him they didn't know how to manipulate the Mist enough to avoid any questions about why one of their passengers suddenly disappeared.
They didn't want Dionysus to leave their sight in case he got cold feet. And since Dionysus refused to use his godly powers to magically transport all of them, this was all really his fault. He could have made things easy. If there was one bright side, he didn't have another sip of wine on the ride over. In fact, he switched over to Diet Coke.
"Are you excited to see your old camp again?" Will asked as they made it to the base of the hill. Dionysus moved his gaze up the hill. A sad look came to his eyes. He blinked, and it was gone.
"Of course not," Dionysus said. He sighed dramatically. "Let's get this over with."
Despite his words, Dionysus was the first one up the hill. Percy followed right behind. As he made it to the top, a small smile came to his face. Considering the land before was the aftermath of a decades old battle, things looked great now.
No.
It looked amazing.
"Woah," Will breathed as he made it to the top.
"This is amazing," Luke began.
"It looks like Camp Half-Blood," Dionysus grunted. "Before it was destroyed and desecrated by Romans of course."
While they hadn't been gone for too long, a lot of progress had been made. The grass looked much healthier, and all of the rubble was gone. Grover stood next to a few others. Each of them had horns that curled around their heads.
There were also numerous women, but they weren't exactly women. Some of them had pointed ears like they stepped out of a fantasy novel. A few had a tree limb either growing off of them or replacing an actual limb. Others had green skin.
"Oh no," Dionysus said. His words seemed to carry across the once camp. Everyone turned to look at them.
"Those are Dryads and Satyrs," Luke informed Will and Percy. "The Dryads live in trees with their life force being tied to them. A lot of them were probably wiped out when the camp was destroyed, but it looks like the rest were waiting here."
"Lord Dionysus!" a Satyr yelled.
"My lord!" A Dryad cried. Just like that, a crowd of Dryads and Satyrs were rushing toward them. Dionysus facepalmed. Luke gently pulled Will and Percy to the side as the other creatures swarmed Dionysus like he was a celebrity.
"Settle down!" Dionysus ordered as he raised his hands. The crowd around him started to raise their hands toward him, like they were praising him. Dionysus cringed. "Yes, I am back. Everyone step away!"
"You did it," Chiron said softly. Percy turned to see that the centaur had made his way up the hill. He was staring at Dionysus. "What did you say to convince him?"
"We played on his pride," Luke answered. "And challenged him to a drinking contest."
Chiron's eyes widened, and he turned on them so fast he nearly lost his balance and fell down the hill. Luke quickly spoke, "Energy drinks! I had energy drinks!"
"I beat him in Pac-Man," Percy bragged.
"By cheating," Will asked. Percy gave him a look. Will grinned at him and looked at Chiron. "Have you heard anything from the girls?"
"No," Chiron said with a shake of his head. "I feel they will take longer than you did, but they can handle it. Is anyone hungry for dinner?"
"We ate a lot of food at the arcade," Luke answered.
"I can go for food," Percy said.
"Me too," Will agreed. Chiron smiled at them. He glanced down the hill. Percy followed his gaze and saw that the commotion had drawn out Drew and Lupa. The wolf goddess was watching them closely. Her gaze was focused solely on Percy.
"Yes. I will get to all of you later!" Dionysus said. Percy turned his head and tried not to laugh. The crowd was still following behind Dionysus. "Go back to what you were doing! That is what will make me happy."
The Dryads and Satyrs practically turned to run down the hill, nearly knocking each other over. Dionysus shook his head and then moved his gaze to the sky as if questioning some greater force why. The god turned toward them, and a small frown touched his face.
"Lupa," Dionysus said.
"Dionysus," Lupa greeted.
"Still walking around as a mutt?"
"Still walking around as a drunk?"
"Is this going to be a problem?" Percy whispered to Chiron. A small smile came to his face.
"No," Chiron whispered back. "At least, I don't think so."
"Chiron, it has been too long," Dionysus said. A sigh left him. "I know that you want a hug, so we should just get this over with."
"We don't have to," Chiron began. Dionysus didn't seem to hear, or maybe he didn't care, as he wrapped Chiron into a tight hug. Chiron smiled and hugged him back. After a few moments, Dionysus cleared his throat and pulled away.
"Now that we've taken care of that," Dionysus said as he fixed his shirt. His gaze moved to Drew. "Is this all of the demigods that we have?"
"We have three more," Lupa replied. "Two Greeks and a Roman."
"A Roman?" Dionysus asked as his eyes seemed to light up. A small smirk came to his face. "Interesting."
"They are going to retrieve Iris," Chiron informed. "She has been missing for just as long as you."
"Why didn't you come back to Camp Half-Blood anyway?" Luke questioned. "After all this time, you must have wanted to."
"For your information Lucas-"
"It's Luke."
"That's what I said. I did not want to come back to Camp Half-Blood, and even if I did, it would have been too dangerous. It is the same reason that Lupa is not always around for you demigods. At least I hope not," Dionysus commented.
"I try not to be," Lupa said as she looked back at the hill like she was waiting for something. Or someone.
"Being an Olympian, I am very powerful," Dionysus bragged. "I would have attracted too much attention. Monsters would sense an immense power and track it down, leading them to me and whatever demigods were with me. Which can happen now. So, how do you plan on stopping that?"
"By cutting off unauthorized access!" Terminus stated as he appeared out of the thin air, inches from Percy's head. Percy ducked down to avoid getting hit right in the head. Terminus seemed to be floating in mid air. "Bacchus!"
"Terminus," Dionysus said with a sigh. "Wonderful."
"Bacchus was scared to have demigods hurt under his watch," Lupa said. Dionysus' lip curled, and he scowled. Lupa made a noise like a laugh.
"But more than just monsters," Luke guessed. Dionysus looked at him and nodded once.
"What else is there to worry about?" Percy asked, though he had a few guesses. Dionysus' gaze barely flickered down. That was more than enough for Percy.
"Well! We should celebrate," Chiron said as he suddenly clapped his hands together. "For a job well done, we should celebrate. There's a pizza place that I heard is good. I'm sure we can get them to deliver."
"Pizza?" Dionysus repeated. He raised an eyebrow. "Lupa, will you be joining us?"
"No," Lupa said. She looked back out at the hill. "I will wait here for the girls."
"Hey, they're going to be okay," Percy said. "All three of them are smart, and the only one who is a better fighter than them is Luke. They'll be fine."
"I hope so," Lupa said as she stared ahead. Her gaze focused on Percy. "All of you should celebrate your victory. There is still much for us to do."