The Thiasus of Dionysus

When Melissa’s hooves sank once more into lush grass, and the sweet scent of grapes, honey, and thyme drifted toward her, she already knew she had returned to her own world.

She stood atop a sun-drenched hill crowned by a single, towering olive tree.

From here, she could see far into the valley below, where drums and shrill flutes were echoing loudly in the distance.

The next festivities were already in full swing.

For a moment, her gaze wandered over the familiar hills of her homeland in quiet reverence, touched by a faint sense of belonging.

But soon she lowered her head again, her expression heavy with remorse.

“Back to business as usual, I guess…” she murmured before making her way down the hill.

It did not take long before she found herself once more among satyrs, nymphs, and maenads celebrating their endless revel.

With a sigh, she filled her goblet from a fountain of wine, when suddenly a voice thundered through the thiasus.

“MELISSAAAAA!”

The music faltered.

The laughter died.

And when Melissa turned around in surprise, the crowd behind her was already scattering to make way for their divine master.

He wore a wreath of vine leaves upon his curly brown hair, his skin was weathered and darkly golden.

In his hand he gripped the thyrsus, the symbol of his power, while his violet eyes flashed at Melissa.

“Dionysus!” Melissa exclaimed, forcing a smile only someone with something to hide could manage. “To what do I owe this honor?”

The god struck the ground once with his staff.

“Don't play innocent! I know where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to. Do you think I'm blind?”

The crowd held its breath, and Melissa swallowed.

But then Dionysus merely sighed, and his expression softened.

“A mortal? Truly? Don't you find enough pleasure here with us, my little one?”

Melissa crossed her arms, defiance flickering in her eyes.

“Hmph. It’s always the same people here, celebrating and worshipping you! So I thought…” She searched for the right words. “I thought, I might look elsewhere for suitable followers for you, that’s all!”

Something dangerous flashed in the god’s eyes, and he paused in thought.

“Is that so? That was your intention? And do you believe you've found someone worthy in this human?”

Melissa hesitated.

If I say the wrong thing, I’ll only put Lucius in danger…

“No,” she said firmly at last, waving a hand in exaggerated dismissal. “That mortal doesn't have what it takes to revel with you!”

“Oh?” Dionysus raised a brow. “Is that so?”

Melissa nodded in confirmation, and her master seemed satisfied.

Yet just as he turned away, he glanced back at her once more.

“Then I shall see to it that he is stripped of his memories, and the matter will be settled...”

Melissa froze.

Stripped of his… memories?

Her thoughts raced back to the night before, to their time by the lake, to the foolish games they had played until late into the night, and to the moment she had drawn closer to him than to anyone else.

Lucius will forget all of that? But then he will forget… me.

She clenched her teeth.

And driven by impulse, she acted.

“Wait!”

Curious but not surprised, Dionysus turned back to her.

“Now that I think about it…” Her voice grew soft, almost brittle. “He actually celebrated quite wildly…” She scratched the back of her head, staring at the ground. “He would surely be worthy of your thiasus…”

For a while, no one spoke.

Then the god burst into booming laughter, strode toward her, and clapped her firmly on the shoulder.

“Why didn’t you say so? If that's the case, we should welcome him here properly, shouldn’t we?”

Only then did Melissa fully grasp what that meant.

Oh crap, I shouldn’t have said that.

Before she could think any further, Dionysus made a sweeping gesture with his hand, and a golden cornucopia appeared.

He pressed it into her hands.

“Here. With this, you may summon him here at the next full-moon feast.” Then he turned back to his wild retinue and raised his voice. “Enough talk. NOW WE CELEBRATE AGAIN!”

At once, cheers and thunderous music erupted.

Only Melissa remained still, holding the cornucopia thoughtfully in her hands, worry creasing her brow.

And yet, there was a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her lips.

᯽᯽᯽

Lucius slowly opened his eyes.

His blanket. His bed. His room.

Outside, it was still dark. Rain pattered relentlessly against the windowpane.

He glanced at the clock.

“3:36 a.m.” Lucius muttered, rising with a sigh.

The nights were growing shorter, yet to him they felt unbearably long.

Yawning, he dragged himself into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee.

“No way I'm falling asleep again anyway...”

Then he opened his laptop and began to work.

But his gaze kept drifting toward the dark edge of the forest beyond the window, as if he hoped to see something there.

At some point, he realized it and groaned.

“What am I even doing here?“ 

He closed the laptop and dropped his head onto the closed lid.

But the darkness brought no peace, it brought images.

Her chestnut-brown fur. Her amber eyes.

Her rough yet melodic voice, a voice he sometimes believed he could hear through the window when the wind blew in from the woods.

Her unique scent, like honey and wild grapes, and something he couldn't quite name.

Even the way her tail flicked when she was excited, first to the left, then to the right, had stayed with him.

“I remember every detail about her,” he murmured, almost surprised, his lips brushing the cool surface.

And at last, he fell asleep.

Hours later, with the morning sun already spilling warmly through the kitchen window, he stirred awake again.

A strange, unfamiliar humming filled the room as he slowly lifted his head, a red imprint still pressed across his forehead.

“Is the fridge broken again?”

Only when he turned groggily around did he see where the humming was coming from.

A portal of golden light swirled there directly in front of him, framed by curling vines, glowing brightly.

“What the...”

Lucius squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and pinched himself as he stepped closer to the shimmering rift, staring at it in disbelief.

“That’s… a portal. But why?”

Before he could think any further, a hand suddenly shot out, seized him by the collar, and yanked him through.

“Ahhh!”

As he sank into the blazing light, the world around him dissolved into darkness.

Then a sudden rush of warmth and the scent of crushed grapes and wild thyme washed over him.

His feet sank into lush grass, and a brilliant glare blinded him until his eyes adjusted, revealing a sun-drenched hillside.

Lucius’s mouth fell open as he took in his surroundings.

“Welcome…”

His heart raced at the sound of the familiar voice.

He spun around.

With a single fluid motion, Melissa pushed off from the great olive tree she had been leaning against, a wide grin on her lips, her amber eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

“…to the only place where the wine never runs dry… and the party never ends.”

She spread her arms wide.

“The Thiasus of Dionysus!”