Dionysus’ Vengeance

Time was running out, and Lucius gazed outside into the empty gardens of the palace.

“Where are you, Melissa?“

He noticed a little squirrel, jumping out of a nearby window, his cheeks filled with food it stole from the masquerade.

“Clever little fellow... better just take the food and stay away from that madness inside“, he whispered.

And suddenly he knew.

Would she even be here? Among masks? In a game that wasn’t hers? No, that's not her at all...

“That’s it!” he finally whispered, and shoved himself away from the window, breaking into a run. “She’s not here!“

He tore through long open corridors out into the palace gardens behind the marble walls. The air was cool, the first light of dawn casting a delicate veil over the grass.

Birds chirped in the underbrush, and somewhere, something rustled softly. A light giggle, mischievous and unmistakable.

He followed the sound through a corridor overgrown with ivy until he reached a fountain.

And there she was. Melissa. The real one. Perched on the fountain’s rim, her hair wild and tangled.

She was tossing grapes at a sleeping nymph floating inside the fountain’s basin, and laughing in that way only she could.

Melissa didn’t notice him at first, not until she threw the last of her grapes and prepared for another mischievous trick.

Then her eyes fell on Lucius and her laughter stilled.

“I was supposed to find you at a masquerade ball, you know,” Lucius said, arms folded, a serious expression on his face.

Melissa didn’t say a word. Instead, she leapt down from the fountain in one smooth motion, landing with a solid click of her hooves in front of him.

“Who says I play by the rules?” 

Lucius tried to maintain his stern expression, but it crumbled and he burst out laughing, eyes shining with relief as Melissa soon joined in.

Then, for a single breath, neither of them spoke, they simply smiled at each other.

“YOUR TIME IS UP!”

Dionysus’ voice rolled through the garden, and soon he appeared in front of them, his raucous retinue trailing behind him.

“If you thought you could dodge my trial by hiding out here, then…”

The god trailed off as he caught sight of Melissa and Lucius standing together.

Before Dionysus could react, Lucius closed his eyes, laid his hand over Melissa’s chest, feeling the beating of her heart.

“Here is the heart that belongs with mine. The one who doesn’t play by other people’s rules and never wears a false mask!“ A moment of silence followed and Melissas face blushed slightly.

Dionysus’ eyes narrowed as he stepped towards them, his violet gaze crackling like lightning.

“You... you really found her. How is this possible?”

True surprise echoed in the god’s voice, and a murmur rippled through the crowd as Dionysus’ furious glare shifted between Melissa and Lucius.

Lucius stood his ground, his hand still pressed against Melissa’s chest, firm and steady.

Yet the gaze of the god did not rest on him, but rather on his satyr.

“Alright, alright. So this mortal has made his wish and somehow completed my trial,” the god began, his voice heavy. “But before we proceed, there’s a question no trial can answer.”

He paused, then turned directly to Melissa.

“Do you truly want this, my wild one? A mortal at your side? Beyond the festival, beyond the wine, beyond the game?”

Lucius breath caught in his throat, and he dared not look at her.

Melissa stood silent. 

Her eyes shifted from Dionysus, to Lucius, then finally dropped to the ground, her tail lying motionless.

“There is something I didn’t tell you, Lucius...” she said at last.

Lucius parted his lips, about to speak, but she interrupted him with a raise of her hand.

“I knew you even before the first day we met,” she said softly. “I watched you... for a long time… from the mist, between the forest’s edge, where the veil between our worlds grows thin.”

She paused for a moment, swallowing down a knot in her throat.

“At first, I thought it was just curiosity. Or boredom.”

Her voice grew softer, shakier, yet impossibly warm.

“But my heart grew warm when you cared for that injured bird. And I laughed out loud when it left you a parting gift on your head. And… I was terrified the day you fell from the ladder and there was no one there to call your name. Except for me...”

Lucius turned his stunned face toward her, frozen in place.

“I didn’t come to you because your circle summoned me,” Melissa said finally, her voice low and steady. “I came because I wanted to. Because I wanted to know you. And because I was curious… about what might happen when our worlds collided.”

She paused, searching his eyes.

“And when you told me yesterday how you felt, I was afraid at first. But now… I’m completely sure.” She leaned in closer. “I feel the same... And I want you... not just in the dance. Not just in the wine. But in the morning after.”

Then Melissa murmured softly in his ear, a playful lilt in her tone.

“Oh, and just for the record: your summoning circle wouldn’t have conjured up so much as a rabbit.” He let out a shaky laugh, feeling a warmth in his chest he never felt before.

But Dionysus’ voice returned, dry and annoyed, as though he’d expected a different outcome.

“All right, all right. Good to see that settled.” Stepping closer, his staff tapping lightly against his thigh, he examined Lucius. “Mortal… you still don’t truly understand what you’re getting into.”

He raised his hand as though weighing an invisible scale.

“Do you know what love is, human?” Dionysus’ voice turned suddenly rough. “It’s not a drunken haze like wine. Not a dance. Not a festival. Not a game. It’s sorrow. And an insatiable hunger for something you can never fully possess, because at one point, you will lose it anyway.”

He paused briefly, his eyes narrowing darkly.

“And that’s precisely why I despise it, this thing called love.” His voice sliced the air like glass. “Up until now, this has all been amusing enough. But I’m growing tired of it. You want to steal my servant from me? Fine. But there’s always a price.”

Dionysus’ face brightened, a mischievous glint entering his violet eyes.

He turned around, spreading his arms wide. Suddenly, two clusters of grapes appeared in his hands, one white as light, the other deep purple, nearly black.

“What is that?“, Melissa demanded.

But he just handed the pale cluster to Melissa, and the dark one to Lucius.

“Eat. Or I'll smite you with madness right now, as I did with Lycurgus!”

One short glance passed between them and they knew, they had no choice.

Then they both bit into their fruits.

Lucius screamed as his body convulsed and his bones shifted. A tail grew from his spine, his heart raced, his trousers teared apart as coarse fur sprouted over his lower body. Horns bursted from his skull in blinding pain.

He turned toward Melissa.

She gasped as her hooves buckled, growing soft. Skin stretched over bone where fur had been and her eyes widened in panic as her horns shrank away. Her chest rose and fell in a ragged, terrified breath, as though she’d never breathed like this before.

Unsteady on her new human legs, she collapsed onto her bare backside. Her hands flew to her cheeks and forehead, searching for her horns, finding nothing, eyes wide with shock.

“What… what did you do to us!?” she exclaimed.

Dionysus laughed deep, long and satisfied. “Now you’re equals. A bond between two worlds can’t be forged if only one changes. You want his life for yourself? Then taste it. And you, Lucius, want her love? Then become like her!”

And then, without warning, the earth yawned open beneath them, splitting apart with a thunderous roar.

A rush of wind swept them off their feet, plunging them helplessly into the darkness.