Daughter of Wine

Callida

Sneaking out of camp is fairly easy. There's not really much security, and everyone is asleep. My dad packed me a bag with cash, drachmas, my secret phone that I use to listen to music, my favorite knife, ambrosia, nectar, a black bomber jacket lined with fleece, and spare clothes. I walk through the woods for a while, in case one of my siblings wakes up and sees I'm gone and decides to tell Chiron. Once I decide I'm a safe enough distance away, I put in my headphones and start the walk to the airport. I figure the safest way for me to get to Quebec undetected is to avoid as much interaction as possible. Monsters can disguise themselves incredibly well, so better to not put myself in a situation to run into one.

I find myself quietly humming my music. I don't mind walking through the woods. And the jacket my dad left for me is incredibly warm. I'm listening to Ricky Martin, one of my mom's favorites. 

I still remember watching her die. She had been trying to defend me. I was seven years old, and didn't know a thing about gods and monsters. The fear I felt in that moment still resurfaces from time to time. My father, Dionysus, had appeared, picked me up, and taken me to Camp Half-Blood.

I distinctly remember people underestimating me. I remember people thinking I wouldn't learn how to fight, or how to use my abilities, or that I would lounge around growing strawberries all day. But I didn't enjoy that. I enjoyed learning everything I possibly could at camp. And I have more abilities than most Dionysus kids. Almost all of us can control grape vines and make things grow. Fewer of us can instill madness. But then there's the rare abilities. Control over plants and animals, pyrokinetics, manipulating light, levitation, teleportation, curses, joy and sadness, wine-talk, which is our version of charmspeak, increased persuasion and acting skills, and hydrokinesis. I have all of them.

Once I reach the airport, I find my flight easily and wait at the departure gate. I look around nervously. So many people, despite the time of night. I rarely leave camp. It's weird for me to see regular mortals and their families, and the businessmen, and a shocking amount of people carrying skis. My Celestial Bronze knife is undetectable in mortal metal detectors, so I have it safely in my backpack pocket, just in case. I'm a daughter of Dionysus. I don't draw as much attention as other demigods. But I also have a crossed bloodline. Athena and Dionysus. It does make my scent stronger.

The first time I left camp was to go to Westover Hall with Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth. Their satyr friend Grover had found two demigod children of Hades. Nico and Bianca di Angelo. That was when all the craziness started for me. That was when I really became someone at camp. I have always been pretty well-liked, as far as I know. But after that quest, I became one of the "cool" kids, you could say. Then, people really began to take me seriously after I led the attack against the monster army during the Battle of the Labyrinth. And during the Titan War, I almost died holding off Kronos. I was trying to protect my brother, Pollux. I couldn't stand to see him killed after what happened with Castor. But Kronos stabbed me through the stomach. It was thanks to pity from my grandmother Athena that I lived. She told me I still had a part to play, and that it wasn't my time yet.

Those words ring through my mind again now, as I wait to board the flight. Something about this trip tells me that this is what she meant. I'm supposed to be doing this.

The flight is fairly uneventful. I manage to sleep a few hours, despite the overwhelming nerves of running into a monster. It's Quebec that really shocks me. It's so cold, and so beautiful. The morning sunlight glows and reflects against the ice that coats the buildings. Where Boreas is, I have no idea. But I wander around, looking for him. I'm about to give up hope when I see them.

They look like angels, at first. Humanoid, with large purple wings. They're flying around the morning sky, as if patrolling. I follow them to a hotel. It's incredibly large, and looks like a medieval castle. Despite the early hour, people stream in and out of the doors. The angels disappear into a hatch in the roof. Well, there's something.