Daughter of Wine

Callida

I've never disliked being a daughter of Dionysus. Most people would wish to be a child of Athena, or Apollo, or a more impressive seeming god. But I've always thought Dionysus was pretty cool. I mean, wine, craziness, nature, animals, and all that is pretty versatile. Plus, I can sort-of control water, like Percy. I can light myself on fire, like Leo. I can almost charmspeak, like Piper. I can touch people and make them tell me the truth. And my dad has always seemed to be there more than the other gods. 

But right now, gods, I'm embarrassed. My dad is making me and my friends fight giants for his entertainment. Not my favorite kind of party. For once, I understand why Luke would get so mad at the gods, and why he turned his back on Olympus. Being used as a pawn in the games of the gods is all too common for demigods, and now I get to experience it firsthand. I suddenly wonder if my dad would have taken any interest in me at all if he hadn't been stuck at Camp Half-Blood with me.

For the first time, I'm questioning the gods. Sure, they're probably better than the Titans, or the giants, or Gaea, but that doesn't make them good or wise. It definitely doesn't make me like this stupid battle arena. 

Unfortunately, we don't have much choice. If I'm going to save my friends, if I'm going to save Leo, we have to beat these giants. 

Ephialtes and Otis make my decision easier by attacking. Together, the giants pick up a fake mountain the size of my cabin and hurl it at us. 

We all bolt and dive into the nearest trench and the mountain shatters above us, spraying us with plaster shrapnel. 

"The crowd jeers and shouts for blood. "Fight! Fight!"

"I'll take Otis again?" Jason calls over the noise. "Or do one of you want him this time? Calli, what do you think we should do? These are your giants."

I'm touched that Jason wants my input, but I feel inferior to him and Percy. They're Big Three kids. Zeus and Poseidon. The sky and the sea. I'm always wanting to protect my friends, but I'm not sure how much I can do right now. Otis and Ephialtes are the anti-Dionysus. So, I assume I can't drive them mad, which is my big giant-fighting trick. Without that, I can grow stuff to try and trap them, which I get the feeling won't work with this sand and wood below us, or I can pull a Leo and light myself on fire, which also isn't really going to help in this situation. I can teleport around and whack them with my thyrsus, but their spears are enormous. I can't fight either giant alone. 

"We attack together." I offer. "Otis first, since he seems weaker. Take him out quickly and move to Ephialtes. Bronze and gold together, that might keep them down for a while. I don't think my powers will work well on the giants, so I'm going to need your help."

Percy smiles dryly, like he's just found out he's going to die in an embarrassing way. 

"Why not?" Jason agrees. "But Ephialtes isn't going to stand there and wait while we kill his brother. Unless-"

"Good wind today." I suggest. 

"And there's some water pipes running under the arena." Percy adds. "Calli, can you help me out with that?"

"I can try." I shrug. 

Jason laughs. "We're going to make an interesting team."

"Sorry my dad sucks." I tell them. 

Percy shrugs. "You don't suck though, lucky for us." 

"Go team." Jason sound very unenthusiastic. "On three?"

"Why wait?" Percy asks. 

We charge out of the trench. As I suspected, the twins have lifted another plaster mountain and are waiting for a clear shot. The giants raise it above their heads, preparing to throw, but Percy and I cause a water pipe to burst at their feet, shaking the floor. Jason sends a blast of wind against Ephialtes's chest. The purple-haired giant topples backwards and Otis loses his grip on the mountain, which promptly collapses on top of his brother. Only Ephialtes's snake feet stick out, darting their heads around, as if wondering where the rest of their body has gone.