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It never stopped. There were always kids who never made it. Kids whose bodies would be covered in shrouds. Kids who were given quests and never made it back. Dionysus, god of wine, theater, and madness had tried to ignore the demigods, purposely got their names wrong to avoid being attached to them. But one can only ignore multiple deaths for so long. No, the god was tired of ignoring them, enough was enough.
The next day, thick long vines had become integrated around the magical barrier protecting the camp. At a glance, they looked harmless until they restrained anyone from leaving.
Panic spread across camp. Demigods started using their abilities to leave. The Athena Cabin began scoping maps for an escape route. Children of Hephaestus organized ways to destroy the vines. Yet all the commotion ended at the sound of a loud horn, signalling the demigods to meet at the Big House.
Once there, the frantic crowd was met with a mysterious figure who looked like Mr. D but resembled a young lithe man wearing a dark purple chitan. It was a far cry from the camp director's usual appearance of a middle aged man wearing a Hawaiian shirt. With everyone present he started his announcement:
“My message here is simple: no one leaves. No more quests, no more going outside the barrier. And no one is allowed to escape or contact their parents. Everyone. Stays.”
And with that the man disappeared.
“He can’t be serious right?” Connor Stoll anxiously paced the room. All the head counselors were in the Hermes Cabin trying to wrap their heads from their camp director’s announcement.
“I mean doesn't he hate us? Why would he keep us here?” The god’s strange behavior was grating on everyone’s nerves.
“We don’t have time to figure out Mr. D’s intent, we need to focus on evacuating the camp because I sure as hell don’t like where this is going.” Will Solace chimed in.
“We can find weak areas around the barrier and slowly drain the camp population. We could also collect drachmas to ask for help.” Annabeth assessed.
“Forget this, I’m not letting Mr. D get away with this crap!” Clarrise grabbed her spear, ready to give their camp director a piece of her mind.
“No! We can’t head out there hot-headed, we need to subtly strategize how to get the campers out of here." The daughter of Athena warned.
Clarrise looked at her, wanting to argue but caved in. None of them wanted to ruin their chance of escaping or face Mr. D’s wrath.
The first escape attempt came when the Stoll Brothers found a weak spot around the side of the barrier. There was a thin spot void of vines indicating an easy break through with the correct weapon. However once the brother made contact, vines burst out, wrapping around the pair. Rich plump grapes rapidly grew on the vines angled directly above them before bursting. Syrupy sweet juice forces its way into the twins mouths.The liquid overwhelms the twins with graphic images of horrible fates of the outside world. Monsters ripping them limb from limb, agonies upon agonies in the Fields of Punishment. The Stoll Brothers writhe in despair, begging for mercy.
In the distance a dark figure watches them, vines bending to his will around him.
“Tch, sneaky brats.”
There were no more escape plans from Hermes' kids.
Annabeth came up with the second escape attempt. After the Stoll Brothers came back devoid of their usual mischievous behavior she knew she had to think outside the box.
Holding a single drachma, the blond plops it into a running waterfall connecting to the river.
“"O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering, I wish to speak to the goddess Ariadne.”
Understanding that physically escaping would not be possible, the blond decided to speak with Dionysus’ wife, Ariadne to inform that her husband needs to stop his radical plan. Annabeth shivers, the longer she waited, the more anxious she became of her surroundings.
Soon the mist started forming the distant shape of a woman. Yes! Her plan was working, the image finalized and Annabeth found herself face to face with the goddess.
“Goddess Ariadne, please we need your h-”
Vines wrap around Annabeth's mouth, blocking her ability to speak. Another body blocked her way from the Iris message.
“Yes hello my dear, so sorry to call this abruptly, yes I know that I do not need an iris message to contact my wife.”
The daughter of Athena was met with Dionysus talking with his wife. More vines wrapped her body, she tried cutting them with her bronze knife but it was useless. Suddenly she felt a piercing stare directed at her.
“Don’t worry about me, I know the brats can be a lot but you know I can handle them.”
Purple eyes bore into her, assessing her state of helplessness. She hears the call ends before the god squats down to reach her level.
“Now what did I say about contacting outside of camp hmm?”
Annabeth wriggles against her bonds, trying to create distance.
“Can’t you kids understand that this is for your own benefit?’
If she could respond she would answer that this was not the answer to a Greek demigod's well being. But instead the god snaps his fingers and Annabeth is hit with all her worst nightmares at once.
Muffled screams could be heard across the camp.
Campers got more and more rash with their decisions as Dionysus increased his punishments.
Clarrisse snapped and tried to stab him with her spear. A flick of the wrist and the god of madness eliminated all her fighting capabilities, her combat techniques vanished, her muscle memory null. The daughter of Ares fell on her knees screaming insults with her spear broken next to her.
Percy was not originally present at the beginning. He was on a trip with his family. But when he came back to camp he was almost always restrained before Dionysus instilled a mental block in his brain preventing him from even thinking of escaping. All the Satyrs and Naiads were also under Dionysus’ control. The satyrs had to keep their job of collecting demigod children who would never leave once in camp. And if anyone refused to stop the demigods from escaping, well, then they would end up like Chiron, chained and muzzled.
Dionysus remembers living out his godhood partying and creating frenzies. He did whatever he wanted when he wanted to. So when he was punished, he resented the little brats that he was supposed to supervise. Why care for these little creatures when they were destined for death anyways? But then he got attached. He got too attached and it broke him when they just kept dying and dying and dying. But now his camp is thriving. Now more shrouds, no more funerals. Everyone is safe. And yeah sure he had to clip the wings of a few of them but it does not matter. The little demigods don’t know what's good for them. Don’t they see that they are cared for? Protected from the dangers of the world. There are no more quests since their oracle is sealed from vines, and the labyrinth entrance as well. And now they will keep living just at the cost of their freedom but hey freedom is overrated anyway.