#theseus: you are asking me to kill myself | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

notasapleasure · 8 months

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Stupidly long playlist to go with the stupidly long fic. In short, it follows a kind of meandering path from Icelandic youth to swaggering mercenary behaviour on the continent, to service in the Varangian guard in Constantinople. It is very much in an order I chose, and should be listened to in order. I designed it to have them coming closer together and parting ways at various points, and it follows a very rough outline I have for three 'books'' worth of adventures.

Bit more info about each track under the cut, but basically it's Weird FolkTM, Icelandic rock, a smattering of prog, and some entirely self-indulgent pop picks.

Sumer is icumen in - you may know from Wicker Man soundtrack? Everyone's go to creepy folk song because it's one of the oldest. Included because of cuckoo theme. Kólbítur - Icelandic term for 'coal-biter', a character type in medieval stories and folk tales. Usually a lazy boy who rolls around in the hearth ashes as a child getting in the way of the women. After some trauma he is usually revealed to be a great hero, who just needed a bit of goading on. Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu well known Icelandic ballad, full of longing and intertwined personhood: 'mine was yours and yours was mine'. Nitlayokoya - kind of a spoiler for the fic, but Cassian isn't actually a 'skraeling' (Norse name for the American peoples encountered around Newfoundland), he's from...way further south. This song has the same title as poem by Nezahualcoyotl, meaning 'I am Sad', though this wasn't composed until the fifteenth century. Get Out of My House is based on The Shining, so there's the link to Native American land, and there's shapeshifting in the song too. Seems a good angry bb Cassian song. Filthy Game a stranger and a good man gets drawn into the locals' 'filthy game'. The Devil & the Huntsman mainly for the Sam Lee, but also a rollicking banger from the King Arthur soundtrack. Vibes. The Dark general foreshadowing and vibes. Don't Say No - there's a lot of Patrick Wolf on there, this is early Patrick Wolf urging us to run with our instincts :)) and teeth. Shapeshifter there's also a lot of Richard Dawson in various iterations on here because he does Weird Folk like no one else. Shapeshifter so impressive he's even handing out potatos pre-Colombian exchange. Pagan Poetry best fucked up Björk song everrrr. 'He makes me want to hurt myself'. To Try for the Sun just boys being lads, sharing coats and hanging out on the streets, nothing to see here. Teardrop this is how you do a cover. Theseus 'A black sail billows, the sun hits your blade / And you are hungry, you are hungry for you'. Jolly Bold Robber I love the way Nic Jones sings this. A 'jolly bold robber' attacks a young sailor who's just come ashore with his earnings and they fight - moral is don't fight a desperate sailor who wants to spend his shore leave well. But the way Nic Jones sings 'like lambkins they've stripped' sure is something. And the apology in the sailor's voice for killing his attacker. Feels very Cassian. Two Brothers - any folksong 'and they were brothers' me: 'what if they were ""brothers""?' Here with wrestling matches, bruised egos, pocket-knife stabbings and regret. The Best Excuse in the World I remember seeing this live and David Rotheray explained it as being about a gay man realising he has 'the best excuse in the world' for not loving his wife, but the way Jim Causley sings it erases any of the triteness of that, it's gorgeous. Go Your Way classic 'I love you so much I'm letting you go' folk song. Nonantzin another Nezahualcoyotl poem, this one asking mother to cry for her child when he dies. Crown Shyness is just one of my Brassian songs. Growing up together but not quite being brave enough to reach out to each other. Raincatchers ditto, also shut up I love it.

We used to be the raincatchers And we couldn't see what we were running from You made me feel like Nothing really matters Here in my dreams, we're raincatchers Come back to me like it was before You made me feel like Nothing really matters, nothing really matters If we let this run Caught on a river Everything that we left unspoken Will never be said Revenge of the Bear instrumental, for the title mainly. Who could it refer to, you ask? Animalia whaaaat it's from the soundtrack to my favourite film, also fucked up love and animal imagery. Daring Highwayman getting into the Norwegian/continental mercenary/troublemaking part of their careers now, Cassian definitely makes robery seem cool. Hare Spell he also makes shapeshifting seem cool. Because it is. Stendur æva is about nine minutes long but it's essential I'm afraid. Played on a glockenspiel made from Icelandic rock, I usually LOATHE your man from Sigur Rós and his squeaky voice, but he sort of sounds like a seagull in this, and it features the then head of the Icelandic folk singing club, who has a lovely voice. It's all bullshit medievalism about 'Odin magic' but it sounds fucking amazing. VIBES I SAY. Trøllabundin this is tumblr, you all know about Eivør Pálsdóttir here, right? Ogre more Richard Dawson! But this time the community is not so happy with the outsider figure on its edges. Twa Corbies is a pan-European folk song with pretty old roots. Pov: you are a corvid observing the body of a dead knight. Villon Song high medieval roots for this poem about all the cool things you can do to break the law. Bwganod Richard Dawson AND FRIENDS this time. The title is Welsh for 'scarecrow', which doesn't really have any bearing on things, but the following lines are just relevant, ok Always jokey-woking ‘Til the shit hits the fan Spray my face in fertiliser Grow a mos-toosh Hairy pits Super fit Built like a brick shit Wearing leopard-print Fishnet underpants

I’m on the run, Barely began Gathering sun, but I’ll take my time I’m overrun The damage is done Everyone’s gonna sink into the slime Hellismanna kvæði for the 1990s girl rock!! Also it's an outlaw song. Strákarnir á Borginni means 'the boys on the town' and is a camp tango about the hypocrisy of 1980s homophobic farmers in Iceland. I've posted it here before, it's iconique. Fin Cop a more tragic outlaw song. Nobody loves a troll. Escape oh just for the Vibes, because Plunkett & Macleane has the energy I want my outlaw saga to have. The Night Safari much more recent Patrick Wolf about love not being enough to stop self-destructive tendencies. Also shapeshifters. Excuse me While I shift shape The ocelot Slips the bowline knot But soon falls to prey As a boy I worshipеd the thunder Now it's just a sky under I wait for to fall No why only whеn Still Too Soon to Know yes yes blorbo got on the playlist. Pleasingly few pronouns in this. After all they've been through, surely Brasso would know? Á Sprengisandi is a jolly Icelandic folk song about riding across the highland interior on the main path. There's unclean spirits! Outlaws! Elves! All those fun guys. Ten Thousand Miles just another nice travelling song :)) Oh come ye back My own true love And stay a while with me If I had a friend On this Earth You've been a friend to me Dodona more recent Patrick Wolf going through it. Night Ride Across the Caucasus I'm not sure yet precisely what route they'll be taking by this stage but you've gotta have some Loreena on a medievalish playlist. Anyone But Me what pining would be complete without some jealous misunderstandings? This is such a sinister and sexy song of obsession and it's a fave. Ivy to go with the general move towards the cradle of ancient civilisationTM this is more Richard Dawson (and DIFFERENT friends, these ones Finnish metalheads) this time telling Dionysus's story. Hey Matt if you can take me at my best you can take me at my Darren Hayes-est, gay angstiest: Hey Matt The water carried all my secrets Sifting through the muck I saw my dirty little grievances And the memories I killed All the shameful feelings spilled Lay bare on the asphalt Broken parts I thought I'd drowned real good Oops! I Did it Again it's a Cassian song, ok? Nikitoa last of the songs with a title matching a poem by Nezahualcoyotl, this one about the transience of all things :)) Móðir mín í kví kví what if we made this lullaby into a girl screamo track? Vibes, I say again. Feet of Clay more on the topic of not being able to make a move despite wanting to. Whispering Light the version with Willy Mason. Distance, mark of distance Your burden is your brilliance There's a vessel A hiddеn vessel in the stonе Difference, not indifference Your passion marks you different And you wrestle And how you'll wrestle to come to know The Gates of Istanbul more Loreena! Constantinople, but, well, I don't need to quote They Might Be Giants. Shim El Yasmine It might not be Istanbul but let's get some Arabic language angst about leaving your boyfriend behind in anyway. Last Polar Bear it's about the long overdue proliferation of contemporary queer folk singers actually. Also bears. From the north. Make you think of anyone? The Moon Shone on my Bed Last Night sneaking some more Sam Lee in for the 'muckle ballad' about being with your lad no matter what. Stál og hnífur this is what happens when you leave the pronouns out, Bubbi! Steel and knife is my symbol, the symbol of travelling workers. Yours was mine and mine was yours while I lived among men. Fire Light soothing. Good vibes. Hopefuly. Probably a happy ending, through I'm a long way from knowing how I'll achieve it yet. What is the medieval equivalent of a Death Star? Over Again haha is it all a flat circle? Or once free to be together to they just go out robbing and causing trouble again? :)

#my playlists #brassian #brassian saga au #saga au #music recs #my wips #i am so proud of this four hour monster really i do spend a lot of time listening to it #lyrics #Spotify

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adiduck · 2 years

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

FIVE fics, Chel? FIVE? 🤣

Okay okay okay I can do this. I'm gonna include cowritten fics, wips, and multiple fandoms to make it easier on myself, though. Also, these are all fics from various times in my life as a writer so I cannot currently say that I would REWRITE them the same way, but they are my favorites nevertheless:

1. edge of providence (Star Wars, M, cowritten with @keensers, wip, 241,962 words and counting, jangobi, arguably one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever had a part in creating)

“Are you going to kill me right here, Mand’alor?” Obi-Wan manages.

Fett freezes, his hold loosening, and shoves away from him as if burned, getting to his feet. Obi-Wan coughs, looks up to where the man is watching him with some strange mix of emotion. His shields are exceptionally strong, for a null.

“There is no Mand’alor,” Fett says finally, and walks right out of the room.

(Or: 15-year-old Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker crash-lands on Kamino on the one day a cycle when the seas are calm and the storms abate. At the time, he doesn’t think much of it. Later—much later—he will come to see it as an omen.)

2. the boat that would row you back (Star Wars, T, complete, 12,317 words, codywan, my first in-text codywan fic and still I think a really fun romp)

“He vanished into the Cosmic Force,” Vader intones, and Cody will never understand why people raised as Jedi don’t just say ‘dead’.

“Is there a reason,” Cody asks, voice shaking with grief over his General’s lightsaber and cloak for the very last time, eyes still burning and blurry with choked-off tears, “you needed to free me to tell me that?” Is there a reason Cody had needed to know at all? Why would Darth Vader--Anakin Skywalker--bother to track down General Kenobi’s former Commander, and make absolutely certain he’d feel the loss sharp and hot in his chest when he delivered the news. What purpose would it serve, now?

“You misunderstand, Commander,” Vader says, and Cody blinks. “He vanished. Wholly. He purposely did not block, I struck him down, and by the time the cloak had fallen, there was no body remaining.”

2.5. Adjacent to Theseus, Seeking (Star Wars, T, complete, 3334 words, codywan, semi-sequel to boat--same universe, mostly just have to be aware of boat's existence, one of my best attempts at creating a particular atmosphere as a main component of a fic, I am aware this is cheating shhhhh)

Cody is somewhere out there, and like this Obi-Wan can no longer feel him.

Cody is somewhere out there, and somehow, his presence in the Force is everywhere, blinding and untethered.

Or, a labyrinth, a monster, a search, and a mystery.

3. an ice-cream covered screaming hyperactive thought (Star Wars, G, complete, 9,863 words, codywan, I just love this one okay, it's so joyful, and I think I did what I came to do re: the underlying story of Cody's building himself a life After The War)

Cody is fairly certain he is not going to get his security deposit back.

There are three new stains on his carpet, and a patch by the door has been roughed up enough Cody’s pretty sure the weave’s come loose. The door itself has scratches in the paint all the way up to the door knob, and the curtains covering the windows on either side of the door are shredded, showing the metal grating over the transparisteel on the street side. The caf machine, the dish rack, and the soap dispenser are all in a collapsed and soapy heap on the floor. Cody’d managed through reflexes honed by war to save his favorite caf mug, but had sadly lost two of his plates and a bowl before he’d managed to wrap the perpetrator in three towels and shove the whole bundle up against a shoulder.

The towel bundle, very put out by this turn of events, is yelling.

4. I Did It All For Myself (Star Wars, G, complete, 6,824 words, pre-codywan, part of a larger wip series (No Choir) and I think not everyone's favorite in that series, but I really enjoyed exploring the tension of beginning to let yourself recover in this one, and I had a lot of fun playing with the timeline)

Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut is entirely bland, dusty white stone and plaster on the inside. Cody borrows four-year-old Luke Skywalker to help him correct this.

5. The General (Girl Genius, T, complete, 37,510 words, I think my first complete long piece of fiction, taught me a lot about voice and pacing and I think is just genuinely a fun ride)

It takes six months for Dimo to officially become acting general of the Jaegermonster army after Baron Klaus Wulfenbach locks Mechanicsburg, and himself and their Heterodyne with it. A lot can happen in six months.

#ask replies #self-rec #Adi is a Writer #I realize that the 2.5 is cheating #but it's my most recent fic and the shortest in a while and I'm quite proud of what I did with it #codywan #jangobi #girl genius

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queenies-corner · 1 year

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Hey there guys!

I have received six go-aheads to talk endlessly about my OCs in a post so here it is! I was thinking last night about how there is a specific Oh Hellos song that describes each one of them and wanted to explore it in more detail.

So I wrote a little bit about them and also included the lyric that fits them best from each song. So if you’re actually reading this and not just skimming (hi, I love you), I hope you enjoy this little analysis and please send asks with any questions! I will talk about my ocs for days if you let me

Luke: Hello My Old Heart

- An absolute classic that also fits him so so well. A big part of his character arc is learning how to love again, learning to take down the walls around his heart!!

- The lyrics that fit him best are “Nothing lasts forever/Some things aren't meant to be/But you'll never find the answer/Until you set your old heart free. Because that’s what he does!!! He learns how to feel and love and hope again and that’s so beautiful!!!

Kali: Wishing Well

- Just recently listened to this one for the first time and I was like YES YES KALI. Because it’s her story! Early in life she runs away and changes everything about her and falls in with the wrong people. And only after she’s too deep in her situation does she realize there “wasn’t any water in the wishing well”- that worldly prosperity is futile and there is no satisfaction in it!

- The opening lines, “I ran like a speeding train/Cut my hair and changed my name/Only had myself to blame/For the company I was keeping” fit her best because it’s so specific to her story? Like yeah That’s What She Did

Jace: Theseus

- Honestly there’s not an Oh Hellos song that fits him perfectly and I haven’t been able to figure out why, but this one fits best just because of the hope in it. It fits his constant search for peace and his resolution to “fix the busted bits”.

- “Maybe that's what it's all about/We keep fixing what we know is only bound to break/What's worth saving is never worth letting go to waste/I want to mend what I've got, instead of throwing away” is perfect for him!!! He never gives up on his friends and he’s always so quick to forgive because he always wants to mend what he’s got!!!

Ophelia: There Beneath

- This one is so beautiful and it fits her pretty much perfectly!! First of all she quite literally has a willow tree in her backyard (and that willow tree is a huge symbol of her character arc). Second of all the whole idea of the song is her whole character motivation! That “there is beauty in the way of things” and anything and everything is worth fighting for because of that!

- “There beneath the willow tree, I learned a lot about the way of things/I learned that everything has breath inside (the wind, the leaves, the wind, the leaves” like that’s her!!! I couldn’t have put it better myself!!!

Simon: Bitter Water

- ok not only does this song SLAP it‘s also HIS song!! he is constantly facing this temptation of power and wealth and influence and he Knows He Shouldn’t Love It But He Does!

- “I feel it in my soul/I feel the empty hole/The cup that can't be filled/And I feel it in my blood/In the fire and the flood/The beast that can't be killed” literally describing his whole inner thought process. He has this Emptiness inside him and he thinks he can fill it with power but Spoiler Alert! He can’t.

Aniyah: Dear Wormwood

- Having read The Screwtape Letters and knowing what this song is about, it was hard to see it applied any other way. But the more I thought about it the more it applies to her! She lives her whole life with this “devil inside of her” telling her she’s not good enough and twisting her into what she’s not! And when she is able to overcome that it reflects that joyful swell in the song when she names it her enemy :DDD

- “I want to be more than/This devil inside of me” is Her Lyric!!! It embodies her longing to become a better person than she’s been molded into and she does! Good For Her

Kaelan: Zephyrus

- Kaelan is basically every Oh Hellos song (there are six on his playlist right now 😂) but this is the one that describes him best. All the plant analogies in the second verse fit him because he is the Ultimate Plant Dad, but also just the overall theme of breathing and breaking and softening and growing embodies him perfectly!

- “Whether by accident or fortune, you and I/We are matter and it matters” This lyric is So. This is how he thinks!!! He’s not exactly sure whether it *is* by accident or fortune, but he know everything exists for a reason, including himself.

Cassus: Second Child, Restless Child

- Ah, Cassus, my beautiful problem child. This song fits him so well even though it’s short because it’s so very accurate. He IS restless and he IS wild and he IS troublesome. And everyone around him saw that and was afraid of him. Which leads us to the lyric:

- “And Heaven knows how hard I tried/But the devil whispered lies I believed”. My boy tried SO HARD to ignore all the hatred and disgust he received but he ended up internalizing it anyway and it became a part of him. And in order to lose that he had to “run far from all he’s ever known” and learn that he IS worthy of love and it IS possible for other people to love him!!

So there is that! It is Long and it probably doesn’t make sense. But I love my ocs and I love the Oh Hellos and I love infodumping on the internet! So it’s just a combination of interests I guess.

If you actually read all that thank you so much 😭 it means a lot that people are actually interested in the things I’ve created! And again if you want to know more just shoot me an ask. Or many asks. I will answer all of them :D

#ocs #writing #the oh hellos #oc analysis #character development

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captainhowlreportingforduty · 2 years

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Chapter 24: Family ties

((AN: yes i am introducing another oc of mine. can’t stop won’t stop baby))

Everything went according to plan.

Ben presented them the Snake fang and powdered Griffin claw within the first week.

“I have never felt this amount of stress and panic before in my entire life. Save for when I had to do confession at church, maybe.” He breathed heavily.

“Professor Snape asked me to stay behind after class and I thought I was fine for, but he just wanted me to organise some ingredients. I was so nervous the entire time, once he let me go I just booked it all the way from the Dungeons to here.”

This explained the thin coat of sweat on his forehead.

Snake fang and Griffin claw got crossed from the list. The Fanged Geranium and the Standard Ingredient took more time to acquire.

They only ever dared to take about a pinch of dried herbs per lesson, painfully aware of Snape’s watchful eyes. It took them three weeks to collect the proper amount, just as long as it took Penny to get the Fanged Geranium.

Penny had signed up for Greenhouse duty the day after their little congregation and had been enthusiastically accepted by Professor Sprout.

“You know, she signed me up for the entire school year. I’ll have to continued even after we get the Geranium.” She told Thena and Rowan during a Herbology lesson.

“But I’m not even mad, it’s actually quite fun!” Leave it to Penny to be able to get excited about anything.

And at lunch on the Monday two days before Halloween, the only missing ingredient the Fanged Geranium, Penny Haywood, covered in dirt and with a gleeful expression on her face, appeared in the Great Hall and made a beeline for the Ravenclaw table.

“We didn’t forget to tell her to be subtle, did we?” Rowan whispered.

Thena had just enough time to amusedly think about what Merula might make of Penny’s appearance before said Hufflepuff hit the table.

“I got it! I got the plant!” She whisper-yelled.

Neither Thena nor Rowan got to be the first to answer.

“You got a plant? Oh Merlin, Thena, What are you up to now? Who do you want to poison? And who is the Hufflepuff? Wait, do I even want to know?” Chester turned to Theseus.

“Theseus, do I want to know what’s going on?”

“Nah, it’s fine. They are doing that under my supervision.”

“Is that supposed to reassure me?”

Theseus gracefully ignored him, instead facing Penny with a smile.

“I think some introductions are due. This miserable boy here next to me is Chester Davies, Ravenclaw Prefect. I myself am Theseus ap Helyg.”

Penny’s eyes widened as she heard Theseus’ surname.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Penny, Penny Haywood.” Her gaze flicked to Chester.

“Can I borrow Thena and Rowan for a minute?”

Chester just sighed.

“Yeah yeah, go off my chaos children. Don’t get killed, don’t kill anyone, and if you do, make sure there’s no evidence.”

Once Rowan and Thena got Chester’s okay, nothing held them at the table anymore.

“It’s great you have the plant, but what are we going to do now?” Rowan whispered.

“We haven’t found further information regarding the arm bone nor would we know where to acquire one, as with the salamander blood!”

Penny just shook her head at them.

“You two are unbelievable. Get Ben and make sure you aren’t followed, there’s something we need to talk about.”

“Ben is already waiting at the entrance.” Thena pointed out

And truly, the Gryffindor was already waiting for them.

“What? You weren’t exactly subtle, I had plenty of time to wait for you here.” He threw a last look over his shoulders as they entered the Artefact Room, to make sure no one was following them.

“A quick summary of the status quo.” Penny started as soon as the door closed behind them.

“The only two ingredients missing are an arm bone of unspecified origin and the salamander blood. I can’t start brewing the potion without the arm bone, the salamander blood can wait a bit longer, since the potion has to mature for several days.”

Rowan frowned. “But we knew all that already! Why did you so suddenly want to talk with us if it’s just about something we already know?”

Penny looked at Rowan, dumbfounded.

“You really didn’t notice?” Rowan and Thena exchanged a confused look, both shaking their heads.

“Oh, you two morons! It’s because you came to me for the potion and you ask me all the questions regarding it while you are literally friends with Theseus. Ap. Helyg.”

She paused to let the information sicker into their brains for a minute. Realisation didn’t take long to come.

“Oh cach... we are so stupid....” Rowan just nodded in agreement, apparently speechless at her own incompetence.

Ben was just extremely confused.

“Hi! I’m also here and I do not know what this is about. Is Theseus a genius potioneer?”

“Oh, you’re right, Ben. It’s a wizarding thing, you couldn’t know.” Thena collected her thoughts for a moment before starting to explain.

“Theseus per se is no genius potioneer, at least as far as I know. But his family, the Helyg’s, they have like this giant potions imperium, WillowPotions. It has been a family business for centuries-“

“-since 1300, to be exact.” Rowan continued.

“WillowPotions has created many potions that are commonly used today and they keep updating them as well. A lot of the potions in our schoolbooks weire either invented by them or potions by WillowPotions built the foundation for other potions.”

“Their biggest expertise lies within the medical field.” Thena decided it was her turn again.

“St Mungo’s - basically the magical hospital here in Britain - gets nearly its entire stock of potions from WillowPotions!”

Now it was Ben’s turn to look at Thena and Rowan, dumbfounded.

“And that just never occurred to just one of you? Not any of the times you were talking to Theseus?”

“In my defense, I never quite caught his surname!” Rowan protested. Ben fixed his eyes on Thena, who raised her hands as if in surrender.

“Okay, I have no real excuse. But I kind of grew up with that family, you get used to the fact that they own a potion industry pretty fast, especially when you’re a child and the only thing that matters to you is the lake behind their house!”

Maybe Thena got a bit louder than she had to. She didn’t even know why talking about this affected her that much.

Rowan frowned.

“Hold on a Minute. Didn’t you tell us you hadn’t seen Theseus in ages?”

Thena chuckled bitterly.

“I used to see him like at least once a week. We’d play together, hide and seek, catch, he sometimes through me into the lake. My- my brother was there with us some times as well...” Thena furrowed her brows.

“I don’t remember what he was doing when he wasn’t with us. Maybe talking to Aunt Cassie? Doesn’t matter. Well, once Jakob pissed off and left me alone, my mam decided that self isolation would somehow bring him back or I don’t know what she was telling herself. Or rather, she always got to go to Aunt Cassie’s. Whenever Theseus came home for the holidays, mam didn’t want me to ‘interrupt their family time'. I don’t know what’s up with that, maybe she just doesn’t like him. She didn’t even attend family galas anymore, and she used to be all about this exclusive glamour stuff.”

Her friends remained silent for a while, Thena’s bitter words hanging heavy in the air.

Penny finally cleared her throat, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Why would she even be allowed at a family gala? I hear the Helyg’s are pretty exclusive. Yeah okay, I keep up with them, I love gossip, alright?” She defended herself when Rowan sideyed her.

Thena just shrugged.

“Oh yeah, right. We’re related on my mam’s side.”

“YOU ARE?” Penny squealed, making Ben jump.

“Rowan, did you know that? Did you know that?”

Rowan adjusted her glasses and answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Honestly, no. But like, I meet the sister of infamous Jakob Smith. I join her mission and find out she hasn’t read a newspaper in ages, but can read Runes, play the guitar, speak at least three languages and has learned Ancient Greek and Latin. She also managed to get a potion to explode on her face, a plant to attack her and to win a duel in her first week here and she managed to stay in Chester’s good graces. Her relation to the Helyg family isn’t the wildest thing she has pulled. Nothing surprises me anymore.”

Thena high fived her. “Hell yeah, that’s my best friend!”

She turned her focus back to the group.

“Now let’s go attack Theseus with questions once again!”

Ben was the last to stumble out of the Artefact Room.

“Wizarding relations are weird.” He mumbled to no one in particular.

***

Since Theseus had lessons that Monday afternoon and they didn’t want to jump him early in the morning with Chester around, it was lunchtime the next day when Rowan and Thena were waiting for him at the entrance of the Great Hall, trying not to drown in the flood of students entering the Hall.

“And who might you two be waiting for?” Chester said instead of a hello.

He was, surprisingly, alone. Usually he and Theseus were attached by the hip, regardless of them being in different years. Thena wondered if Theseus ever accidentally attended Chester’s lessons instead of his own.

“We’re waiting for Theseus!” The Girls answered in unison.

“We need to talk about something important with him. Alone.” Thena added, before Chester could get the idea to wait for him with them.

But apparently she had said the wrong thing, seeing as worry crept into Chester’s expression. Thena groaned mentally.

“Oh would you just let it go, Chester?” She said with an edge. He looked at her all confused.

“Oh please, it’s practically written on your bloody forehead. Yeah, I won’t tell him, for Merlin’s sake, but could you just stop making a- a- you don’t say making an elephant out of a mosquito in english, do you? Nevermind, just stop making such a big deal out of such a small thing! Tell him or let it go, Jesus!”

“Alright, alright!” Chester put his hands up as if surrendering to the enemy.

“Calm down, Thena. I’ll let it go.” He walked off into the Hall.

Thena took a deep breath.

“Maybe you should just blackmail him to get the backstory to this.” Rowan proposed.

“There has to be a past event behind all of this.”

“Or Chester’s just his overcautious self, as Theseus put it. I am not yet desperate enough to threaten him, but it does suck that I can’t ask Theseus about it.”

“Speaking of the devil...”

Rosen nodded to where Theseus came walking towards them, deep in conversation with... wow. A gorgeous Gryffindor girl.

She had short, but fluffy ginger hair, her circular blue earrings matched her blue and brown eyes that gleamed when she laughed at something Theseus had said and her lips were delicately painted in a soft red.

Theseus must have noticed the two girls staring at them, since he turned to the redhead.

“Sorry Mary, we’ll have to catch up later, I think my assistance is needed...”

Mary, as the Gryffindor was apparently called, followed his gaze to the two young Ravenclaws.

“Ah yes, I see your children are in need of parental guidance!” She softly touched his arm with her perfectly manicured hand and gave him and equally soft smile.

Even her voice was angelic. But there was a lot else to unpack in this sentence.

Once Theseus was close enough, Thena and Rowan blurted out the really important questions.

“Children? Parental guidance?” and “Who is she?” was asked in unison. Theseus chuckled.

“I’m just going to ignore that, Thena, and move straight to Rowan’s question. That is Mary Brown, a friend of mine and obviously a Gryffindor.”

“I always thought Chester was your only friend.” Thena mumbled before she could stop herself. Theseus just snorted.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. But no, I actually developed a social life in all the years I’ve been at Hogwarts, and it’s not limited to just Chester, thank you.”

He ran a hand through his honey brown curls, his signature dangling earring, always on the right side, glistening in the light, reminding Thena of Mary’s eyes.

“Did you two Pipsqueaks just wait here to pester me about my social life or do you actually want something? Do I have to send Myfanwy another letter?”

“Kind of, actually.” Rowan replied.

“We are having problems with a potion-“

“Dear Lord, you always manage to get the complicated stuff.”

At their confused glances, he elaborated.

“Myfanwy doesn’t do potion instructions via letter. She doesn’t like not being able to keep an eye on the potion she is instructing or something like that.”

“We actually only need the ingredients!” Thena tried.

“It’s for a Strengthening Solution. We don’t know what the instructions mean by an 'arm bone' and we can’t seem to get our hands on some salamander blood!”

“Okay, okay. I can actually help you with that. Just use any kind of arm bone. Actually hold on, maybe don’t use a human one. I don’t want you digging around in a graveyard or whatever you crazy children are capable of.”

He worked a hand through his curls again. He probably didn’t even notice that he did it.

“Unfortunately, you caught the first year I’m actually staying at Hogwarts for the Halloween feast instead of returning home for Samhain, I promised Chester to help with the chaos. Otherwise, I could have brought the salamander blood back with me. I guess you’ll just have to wait until Yule then.”

Rowan and Thena exchanged a glance.

“Thats alright, we’re just glad we’re even getting it! Thank you, Theseus!”

“You’re welcome, chaos children. You can repay me by not making me regret not asking you why you’re illegally brewing a potion.”

As she followed Theseus into the hall, Thena wondered why he was so ready to help them. Was it just in his nature?

He did help Chester with basically everything he asked of him as well. But he had had constant contact with Chester for the past years, in contrast to with Thena.

And it was different to help someone manage some wild children and to help someone with something that had already made another person go missing.

Then was it because he had known Jakob? Or maybe because he pitied Thena? He had siblings as well, didn’t he. A younger sister, Miele, and an... older one, right? He had mentioned her name before.

Still, Thena just couldn’t recall it, not for the life of her. Hm. Weird.

#thena aeronwyn smith #rowan khanna #ben copper #penny haywood #chester davies #theseus ap helyg #mary brown #thena smith and the lost cause #thena smith and the legend of the vaults #hphm #hphm mc #my writing

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malewifekane · 2 years

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27, 62 and 85 ✌🏻😌 let’s get deep in here

27) are you afraid of growing old?

mmmmmmmmmm!!!! only a little bit? i think i'm quite fearful of leaving education because its my safe space and im autistic and latin is my special interest and i dont want to be pulled away from that world anytime soon. im thinking of staying at uni until ive got a phd tbh just so i can delay that process as long as possible. in terms of aging nope!! i'd love to grow old with the love of my life and spend my last days letting everyone know how much they meant to me. im not really afraid of dying either itll just be sad to say goodbye to so many memories ive made and to the people who shaped me to be who i am.

62) would you want to meet a clone of yourself? would you like them?

absolutely not this type of stuff freaks me out its like the ship of theseus. if theres a clone that acts and thinks the exact same as me, am i really myself? that sort of existentialism would straight up kill me AHAHA

85) do you think you would be happier if you had been born a different gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality or religion?

if i was asked this a few months ago i would've said i wouldve been much happier if i was born cis and i kinda still agree with that in the sense my life wouldve been a lot less expensive and a lot less depressing but ive been surrounding myself with people who truly love me as me and have only ever known me as my true self and i wouldn't change that for the world. my transition was hard and still is but im at a point where im happy to be who i am and i have people who love me for me and nothing else, whether im cis or trans doesnt matter to them :')

#<3

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clusterb-xtch · 1 year

Text

22/4/3

i've always hated the wind. trembling hands covering my ears, pinned back against my head, a dog scared of the coming storm. the wind reaches into me, shakes the dust from my lungs, pulls out secrets as payment for a service i never asked for. the wind says it loves me as it presses in on me. the wind stings the open wound on my side. the wind makes the glass rattle in its frame. the wind pays no mind to the way i bark and snarl. the wind doesn't know that i'll bite.

my mother loves the sun and the wind. she throws back the windows and the curtains, desperate to know every part of me. my mother doesn't care that some things are better left unsaid. she stitches my wounds with "i love you"'s that i never wanted to hear, she doesn't see the tension in my jaw when i answer her through my bedroom door, she doesn't see the corner i'm in when she reaches out to smooth my hair.

just like the wind, my mother is desperate to know me. and just like the wind, my mother doesn't know that i'll bite.

it's a secret that i keep guarded like no other, and i don't know how she doesn't know. she has to know, right?

she saw my father in me that day. i was fifteen. and oh, how the years have let it fester. there's a violence in me, i've spent my years trying to bleed it out, but it's in my bones, it's in the very core of me, and i'd tear myself apart if i didn't believe that the ship of theseus was the same boat either fucking way.

when i was seven, i found diamonds in my backyard. little cubes of precious stone, they caught the light in a way i could only dream of, i ran inside with a handful of glimmering radiance to show my mother. when i was seven, i thought the purple lights in the park across the street from my grandparents' house were beautiful, some rarity that existed just for me. but the diamonds cut my hands, and the purple lights were made to hide veins, and broken glass and heroin aren't things that a child should find beautiful, i was told, i was corrected, and when i was seven i saw a blue ladybug, it landed on my hand and i watched it travel gently across my skin, but blue ladybugs don't exist, and memories are often untrue.

when i was nine, we moved. i didn't realise it was the last trip north until it was too late, i never got a chance to say goodbye, my hometown has grown without me and my childhood home doesn't exist anymore anyways, i always was sentimental to a fault. my dad still sent people to my grandparents house, asking after me, a spider leaving its web. i didn't know until years later. i didn't know a lot of things, and now i know everything.

when i was fourteen, i couldn't sleep. there was a man outside my window, bottles breaking and wire doors slamming, and i would stare at my ceiling in the dark watching the sky bleed in little crescent moons, red drying to brown under my nails, i've kept them short ever since. when i was fourteen, i couldn't eat. the discomfort kept me on edge, and i couldn't stand the feel of flesh in my teeth. when i was fourteen, i thought i was infested. i could feel something crawling under my skin, burrowing into muscle, stopping just short of bone, the marrow was infected anyways, black and hardened and cancerous, a benign tumour that you know will kill you one day anyways.

the medication helped, until it didn't. my pulse is violent now, the violence has reached my pulse, i check my heart rate as i wash down my stimulants with energy drinks, my muscles slide and coil and wait to strike without my permission, and i sit through another anxiety attack. i've been getting them more often now, it hurts in the same way it hurts when i cry, and i know everything, but i don't know what will happen when i turn twenty, and there's only so much self-medicating i can do before it gets old. it's getting old, and i'm getting old, and there's something to be said about suicidal kids who grow up, we were never meant to make it this far.

#my writing #tw sui ideation #tw psychosis #etc etc #idk man #ask to tag

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screeching-0wl · 2 years

Note

Hello!

I've been devoted to Apollo for some time now, but I haven't been able to find sources that can clearly explain to me his festivals/holidays and how to celebrate them.

I'm coming from Wicca (as that's all I was exposed to in terms of spirituality, previously), but I feel that its never worked for me. Hellenism seems like a nicer fit, as I'm already interested in the history of the time and I feel connected to the Theoi (especially Apollo) already.

As I'm finding myself in my spiritual journey and figuring things out, I do feel that slowly transitioning (maybe one deity at a time) will be for the best; especially since I'm still young and don't have all the time in the world.

Anyway ! To get to the point (I'm sorry for being all over the place), I was previously celebrating the Wiccan wheel of the year in a more Apollo-centric way, but I would like help finding information on His real festivals and holidays.

I'm sorry if you've gotten a similar ask, or if you've talked about this already! Thank you for this blog, its helped me a lot !!

Hi there!

I was planning to make a post about his festivals anyway, so here we go!

Apollo's festivals

We probably have the most detailed accounts of Attic/Athenian and Panhellenic festivals when it comes to most gods. Of course, other festivals such as regional ones did exist and I could mention some of them and the scarce bits and pieces of information that have survived but in this post I will focus on festivals and celebrations we know a little more about - some of the ones we could celebrate nowadays or even attempt to reconstruct. There were plenty of festivals celebrating different gods and Apollo had quite a few of his own but I think this will be more useful in terms of modern religion.

I will briefly talk about the history, how the festivals were celebrated back in ancient times and what we could do nowadays. Don't stress if you don't have access to some of the things listed as offerings. These are only my suggestions and things that could especially be associated with each festival. It's fine to offer something else.

So, let's go over some main festivals of Apollo:

Just a PSA: you don't have to celebrate all of them

Pythian Games - Panhellenic; every four years - during the third year of each Olympiad

History: The games were said to have been established shortly after Apollo killed Python and set up the oracle at Delphi. They were also meant to commemrate those events.

Celebration: involved various athletic (foot & chariot races) and musical competitions. The winners received a wreath of bay laurels from the city of Tempe in Thessaly.

What could we do nowadays: Offerings - wine, oilve oil, laurel; watch sport/musical competitions on the TV or attend an event like that; physical activity, listen to music, sing, write songs/poetry

Pyanopsia/Pyanepsia - Athenian; 7th day of Pyanopsion (around October)

Gods: Apollo, Helios, Horai

History: The origins of the festival are linked to the Athenian hero Theseus was said to have established the celebration to thank Apollo and commemorate his victory over the Minotaur.

Celebration: Rites incorporated remnants of rustic magic, including two offerings, consisting of a hodgepodge of the pulse (edible seeds) and a branch of olive or laurel bound with wool, around which were hung fruits of the season, pastries, and small jars of honey, oil, and wine. The offerings were carried to the Temple of Apollo, where they were suspended on the gate. The doors of private houses were similarly adorned. Children carried Eiresione [Ειρεσιώνη] - a wand of laurel. They were going from house to house singing. It's possible that in exchange for Eiresione, the children received small gifts. Eiresione was said to bring good luck over the year if fixed above the door.

What could we do nowadays: Offerings - especially seeds from the legume family, grains, honey, wine, olive oil, fruit, incense, laurel & olive branches/leaves; singing, celebrating with your loved ones (if you can), prayer/hymns, exchanging small gifts, hanging a laurel/olive branch over the door

Delphinia - Athenian; also celebrated in various other parts of Greece; 6th Mounychion (around April)

Gods: Apollo & Artemis

History: Again, connected to Theseus

Celebration: involved a procession to the Delphinion (the shrine) where both Apollo and Artemis were worshipped. Seven boys and seven girls carried olive branches, bound with white wool. There's a possibility Apollo was also honoured as a god having influence on the sea.

What could we do nowadays: Offerings - especially olive oil, olive branches/leaves, water, saltwater, wine, incense; going on a walk - especially somewhere by the sea or a river; prayer/hymns

Gynmopedia - Spartan; annual (around the 6th to the 10th of July)

Gods: Apollo, Artemis & Leto

History: might've begun in 668 BCE to honour a Spartan victory in Thyrea. Apparently, it's possible that Lacedaemonians took it "more seriously than any other festival". It was the first public gathering of the new year.

Celebration: it featured enerations of naked Spartan men participating in war dancing and choral singing, basically it was an exhibition of all kinds of accomplishments in gymnastics, music, and dancing. They would honour Apollo through songs and performed songs which represented the phases of life. The leader of each chorus group would wear a headpiece known as the "feather crown" made of palm leaves.

What could we do nowadays: Offerings - palm leaves; dance, singing, blasting music, physical activity, celebrate with your loved ones (if you can), reflect on life a bit

Hyacinthia - Spartan (+Amyclae); three-day & annual (probably early summer)

Gods: Apollo & Hyacinthus

History: Based on mythology. Held in honour of the Spartan youth, Hyacinthus who was a lover of Apollo.

Celebration: Athletic contests were held to commemorate Hyacinthus' death (killed with a miscast discus). The rites gradually passed from mourning for Hyacinthus to rejoicing in the majesty of Apollo. It's probable the festival was connected with vegetation and might've marked the passage between spring and summer.

What could we do nowadays: Offerings - flowers, incense, grains; physical activity, prayer/hymns, take some time to appreciate the people in your life, read the myth about Hyacinthus

Karneia - Spartan, 7th (Attic) Metageitnion/(Spartan) Karneios (around August)

Gods: Apollo (Karneios)

History: Due to the sacred law, the festival was the reason why Spartans did not help the Athenians in the Marathon battle.

Celebration: Five young men were chosen out of each tribe; one man, decked with garlands, ran away, and the rest followed him. The festival might've been connected to vegetation and fertility.

What could we do nowadays: Offerings - flowers, grains, fruit; prayer/hymns, physical acrivity (go for a jog/play tag?), spend some time outside, learn about the Battle of Marathon

Thargelia - Athenian; (pretty important festival), annual 6th & 7th of Thargelion (around May)

Gods: Artemis & Apollo

History: held on birthdays of Artemis & Apollo; sometimes it might've involved human sacrifice, especially in it's early days

Celebration: vegetation ritual; It was common to offerthe first-fruits of the earth to the gods. The first day involved a purifying and expiatory ceremony. On the second day of the festival there was a feast and procession as a mark of thanksgiving. Branches of olive bound with wool, borne by children, were affixed by them to the doors of the houses (pretty much the same thing as during Pyanopsia). Musical contests were also common on the second day.

What could we do nowadays: Offerings - grains, bread, honey cakes, all kinds of fruit (especially figs), honey, wine, olive oil, incense, olive branches/leaves; prayer/hymns, plan a purification ritual/activity (it could even involve things like: cleaning your house, taking a bath, etc.), make dinner and invite friends/loved ones to share it with, sing and listen to music.

Apollo is also honoured during:

Noumenia (new moon) under his epithet Noumenios

The 7th day of each month

During Summer/Winter Solistice (his arrival from/deparure to Hyperborea, marking the change in seasons, if you follow the myth)

Some things that might also be useful:

Here's an example of "Greek Wheel of The Year":

It's a simplified diagram showing some main Hellenic holidays. You can find more info on the website (link above). Of course, this is not the only way to celebrate Hellenic festivals but since you mentioned the Wiccan Wheel of The Year, I figured it could be easier to picture or get used to.

Attic Callendar 2022 - a reconstruction of the Attic (lunar) calendar; days marked for specific festivals and to honour certain deities [FYI Hellenion is kinda problematic, though, so keep that in mind - see more about that here & here ]

Ancient Greek Fesivals - summaries

You can also create a personal, UPG-based festival/holiday! @theoi-crow explains it really well in this post - LINK

I might write a short post about other fesivals for/involving Apollo, such as Stepterion because I think it's particulary interesting but could be difficult to celebrate today. It's more of a bonus, so I'll just link it here once I'm done.

Hope this will be helpful!

#asks #apollo #apollo deity #apollo festivals #apollo devotee #apollo devotion #apollo worship #apollon #apollodeity #apollon deity #helpol #hellenic polytheism #hellenic gods #hellenic deities #hellenic pagan #hellenic holidays #hellenic festivals #hellenic paganism #theoi

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technowoah · 3 years

Text

THESEUS - a dsmp story ( DreamSMP x Queen!Reader)

CHAPTER 3: YOU’LL BE BACK TIME WILL TELL, YOU’LL REMEMBER THAT I SERVED YOU WELL.

Chapter Summary: Declarations are written, you and Eret have a talk, finally you make a decision, and Tommy wants to fight someone.

pairing: c!wilbur x queen!reader

an// I hope you guys want more of this story cause I have some more ideas for y/n to go through.

⚠︎ swearing, dsmp spoliers(?), angst, mentions of fighting, not proofread.

word count: 4.0k

part 2 - part 4

"Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of victory." Wilbur finished closing the book with a huff.

You had been listening the whole time. Of course it was good, but you finally figured out what L'Manburg stands for even more. Wilbur made this place because of freedom. They wanted independence from the kingdom itself. It was sort of contradictory at first, You couldn't get your finger on it. All in all it was a beautiful piece of writing and it showed the true feelings of this land.

"What do you think?" Wilbur had gotten up and placed the book in a chest.

He stayed over there by the chest in the corner leaning against said chest while staring at You still sitting at the huge meeting table. You sat there for a good 5 minutes. He had read the book slowly emphasizing the parts which were supposed to hit hard. You had to admit it seemed rushed, but still beautiful.

"It was a beautiful piece!"

"Thank you! I wrote it myself." Wilbur smirked as he sat down on the edge of the table.

"I would've guessed so." You laughed a little. It was still a serious matter to you.

"I'm still curious as to why you are here." Wilbur had spoken out of nowhere. It was completely off topic.

"I'm curious as to why you still have me here." You shot back.

"Touchè" Wilbur thinned his lips as he looked out the van's window.

You followed his line of sight and saw what was happening outside. Tubbo was currently laying down on the grass while Tommy sat by him staring at the door of the van. Eret stood up talking to Tubbo and Fundy was lying on his stomach facing away from the group, but it seems like he was still listening because his fox ears kept perking up when Eret or Tubbo spoke.

It was a long silence before Wilbur spoke again and filled that silence.

"Tommy found a woman to join L'Manburg earlier on, but you were American so we didn't let you in. He didn't like that at all. I'm surprised he hasn't convinced Tubbo to shun you." Wilbur shook his head while laughing.

"So you let me in? Why?" You asked, still serious.

"You're Eret's wife now, also half American. Half." Wilbur explained while making pitching motions with his fingers.

Before You could speak Wilbur started again, "Also I said you intrigued me, you haven't found your place, I assume. L'Manburg might be your home."

You hummed in agreement. He was right, but you weren't going to tell him that. You were in the middle of a debacle all of a sudden. You just wanted to be a citizen of this new kingdom that your close friend was a part of. You felt so small, you felt like you had no purpose. Maybe this is your calling.

You were conflicted. This could be a new home. But then.

Your eyes widened as you stared out of the window looking at Tubbo and Fundy laughing in the grass at what Eret said, and Tommy tapping his fingers on his thigh staring worriedly at the van's door. This can't be youhome. You were a spy. You were going to be queen. This is youplace, not some fake country in the woods. You eventually had to go back to Dream, Sapnap and George. That's your purpose.

"I'll be a part of L'Manburg. I want to become a part of L'Manburg. " You stated strongly, trying to make your facadè stronger.

"What if I say no again?" Wilbur smirked.

"I am going to be a part of L'Manburg. This is my home right" You smugly.

"We'll see after today. I'm going to take this and go outside and read out the Declaration to my fellow L'Manburgians. C'mon." Wilbur walked back over to the chest and took out the book.

Wilbur beckoned You over to the door and they both exited the HTO Van together.

"Oh my gosh! What were you two doing in there?!" Tommy shot up from his seat on the grass and sped walked over to the duo. Fundy was finally sat up by both Tubbo and Eret.

"Having adult conversations, which you know nothing about." Wilbur said laughing.

"Hey! I am a grown adult! At least more grown up than Tubbo over there!" Tommy complained pointing at the other kid.

"Hey we are the same in maturity I like to think!" Tubbo sat up from his spot.

"I haven't been here for long, but Tommy is the least mature person here." You sighed.

"HEY!"

"THANK YOU!"

"Hey children gather around!" Wilbur finally interrupted the meaningless conversation.

Fundy, Eret, Tommy, and Tubbo gathered around Wilbur and You.

"You wanted to know what we two were doing, well." Wilbur brings the book from behind his back into their view.

"This is the new declaration! Gentlemen, I need you all to sign this." Wilbur handed the book to Tubbo first and then passed it around.

They all seemed proud. Their eyes lit up as the book was passed around. You could see Tubbo trying not to flip through the pages, Fundy was over Tubbos shoulder looking at how intricate the book was. Tommy was impatiently waiting while Eret stood calmer to the side.

All of a sudden You heard something around the walls of L'Manburg. It was like a loud rustling of somesort. You quickly scaled the walls with your eyes and found a familiar set of netherite armor and black hair. You saw three other figures in that same area as well. You saw Dream and George and a new face you haven't seen before. He had tufts on blonde hair coming out of his helmet. He looked dangerous.

"Um guys. You have visitors." You said while still looking at the four soldiers over the walls.

"Oh god." Eret whispered.

"Um they are in here. They're in HERE." Tommy said anxiously.

"It's fine they can watch this. I want them to hear." Wilbur said as he beckoned the five of them to the top of the HTO van.

Once they made it all on the top of the van Wilbur faced the four before speaking out in a loud strong voice.

"THE DECLARATION OFINDEPENDANCE

Signed: Wilbur Soot, Tubbo_, TommyInnit, ERET, Fundy

Forever the nation of the DreamSMP have cast great sins upon our great land of the hto dog van. They have robbed us. Imprisoned us. Threatened us. Killed many of our men. This time of tyranny ends with us this book declares that the nation which shall be henceforth known as L'Manberg is seperate, emancipated and independant from the nation of DreamSMP. The union of the masters of men.”

Wilbur began to pace around the area they were all in as he continued the long declaration.

“Together we are one. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one to dissolve the bonds which bind us. Disregarding of this truth is nothing short of tyranny. WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF EVIDENT. THAT ALL _MEN_ ARE CREATED EQUAL The right of the people exists above the right of the king. The right of the government and the right of the economy. From the hto dog van we shall prevail. Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of victory." Wilbur ended.

"Im framing this fucker" The boys started cheering as Wilbur jumped down and entered the van.

You couldn't take your eyes off of the soldiers. You watched as there was something that fell inside the walls. From afar it looked like a book, a book that fell on the ground inside the walls. The boys were still talking and cheering, but apparently Tommy followed your gaze to the book that fell.

"What is that?" Tommy said and You and him hopped down and walked over to the book that was dropped.

It had to be from Dream. You looked up the walls and saw no one there, they must've left. Tommy picked up the book and flipped through it.

"Uh oh." Tommy said suddenly.

"Uh oh what?" You peaked over Tommy's shoulder.

He handed you the book and your heart dropped. "Declaration of War."

"Oh shit." You whispered

"Yeah" Tommy and You headed back to the van.

Tommy snatched the book from You's hand and yelled to Wilbur who was still in the van.

"Wilbur! There’s a book for you. He dropped a book!" Tommy yelled. Tommy and You made their way into the van and found Wilbur leaning underneath a door frame.

"Hold this for me. Let's swap books." Wilbur said.

Wilbur took the new book and began to read it aloud.

"Decla- uh oh."

"Wait, can you read it out loud?" Tubbo asked

"What was it called?" Eret asked as well.

Wilbur made his way back into the meeting room, sat down, plopped the book on the table and everyone followed suit into the room. He placed his head into his hands and began to speak again.

"The dec- the declaration of war." He finally said.

"OH!"

"Oh no!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are in a state of war." Eret said playfully next to me.

"This is how we consolidate our power! Men this is not something to fear, this is how we show that we are a nation. If we can hold this off, if we can thwart their advances. Do you know why they're attacking us? Power, greed," Wilbur paces around the HTO van angery still ranting about the situation.

"They're scared!" Tubbo added

"If we can show that our nation is strong enough to hold up against an army, then we can show that we are strong enough to run independently."

"You shouldn't have to prove yourself to Dream if you want independence." You spoke up.

The L'Manburgians were now outside since they followed Wilbur out here.

Wilbur turned around to face You with a neutral face. It was a contrast from just a few minutes ago.

"You're right. For now though we need to show we can stand up for ourselves, they think we are weak. We aren't."

"I understand." You hummed and an awkward silence fell upon L'Manburg.

"Y/N, would you like to become a citizen of L'Manburg?" Wilbur asked formally.

This was a part of the test wasn't it? So many thoughts were going through your head at the moment. This had to be a part of the plan. The whole Declaration of War. You wouldn't get hurt right? And then L'Manburg, you had to accept because if not everything would go to waste.

You smiled, "I would love to Wilbur."

Wilbur extended his hand out for you to shake and You grabbed it and shook hand firmly. It was official.

"Aye! Did I just see what I think I just saw?!" Tubbo and Fundy appeared out of nowhere.

"I saw a handshake~! Very professional." Fundy said, adding to what Tubbo said prior.

"Yes it did! I am a L'Manburgian now!" You cheered and so did Tubbo.

"The first woman in L'Manburg." Wilbur said.

"WHAT? The first woman in L'Manburg is American?!" Tommy angrily stomped out from around the van.

"You're a good addition I think." Wilbur smirked at Tommy, who was fuming.

"Hm, we'll see about that." Tommy narrowed his eyes at You, but you just smiled at the boy. Apparently that made him even more upset.

Tommy began to walk away before Wilbur began to speak again.

"Before you all leave, we need to have potions, more enchanted bows, arrows, and armor. That's all for now. I'll figure out the rest tomorrow." Wilbur finished and the others agreed.

"Goodbye everyone!"

"See you all tomorrow!"

Fundy and Tubbo left the L'Manburg walls leaving Tommy, Eret, You and Wilbur still inside the walls.

"Y/N can I talk to you for a minute?" Eret pulled you to the side. Currently Tommy and Wilbur were talking inside the van and You was chilling outside.

Eret took you away from the van and to a semi secluded place.

"Are you comfortable with what's happening?" Eret carefully asked.

"I'm unsure what's going to happen. I hate that feeling. I'm just worried that something will go wrong. I don't wanna die!" You said that last part while laughing.

Eret laughed a little too trying to lighten up the mood.

"I am too. We have to live long enough to become king and queen." Eret smiled and so did You.

"I don't want to die. Yeah that's one problem, but the other one is that I don't know where I belong. It's hard, is this your home Eret?"

Eret sighed, "Ahh! That's the problem! I would consider this my home."

Eret paused looking at Tommy and Wilbur talking by the HTO van. He took a second and looked You in the eyes again.

"I have the same feeling as you, but I feel like this can't be our purpose. This isn't meant to be, this home is temporary like a wilting home. We can always buy a new one after the old home withers away." Eret concluded.

You and Eret turned their heads to the noise of Wilbur and Tommy playfully bickering, they seemed like brothers, it was cute. The citizens of L'Manburg seemed like a family.

L'Manburg was a calm place. It was a calm house in a huge storm, but sometimes the house can get destroyed by the storm and it will be time to find a new house.

"We'll be okay. You're right by the way." You hummed looking up at Eret.

"I know." Eret smiled down at You.

"You know that we'll be okay? Or-"

Eret cut You off by pulling you into a comforting hug.

"We'll be okay, Dream would never hurt us. You know that. And I am always right." Eret laughed and You joined.

"Hey fuckers, I'm out!" Tommy yelled as he made his way towards the two in a hug.

They pulled away as Wilbur made his way over as well and spoke in a baby voice, "The baby needs someone to take him home~!"

"NO I DON'T! I'M NOT A BABY! I just don't want to get mugged." Tommy complained.

"He is a baby." Wilbur bluntly said.

"I AM NOT-"

"Hey! I can take you home!" You spoke over Tommy.

"Thank God, okay bye you two!" Eret laughed.

"Shouldn't you be with your wife?" Wilbur questioned Eret.

Eret shrugged, "I'm 100% sure you can take care of yourself, she can fight. Also she's not alone."

Wilbur slowly nodded and then began to walk away. The rest of them followed to the outskirts of L'Manburg. The group all ended outside of the walls and split apart. Wilbur goes with Eret and You with Tommy.

The walk through the forest was rough because Tommy always took the most difficult way. He walked his way into skeletons to fight them, He sometimes stopped to check his menu, He also kept talking while not waiting for an answer. It was a lot to travel with him.

They eventually made it into the greater part of the kingdom and saw the familiar sights. As Tommy led the way, he began another conversation from the long journey.

"So, I can't believe I haven't asked you this before," Tommy laughed "Let me begin with this: I don't like you, but I will put up with you"

Tommy walked backwards through grass as he talked.

"Wow what a great start." You sarcastically said, rolling your eyes.

"Don't test me. I just wanted to know why you married Eret in the first place." Tommy turned around and kept the pace You had while walking beside you.

Damn it. You were so close, of course Tommy would be suspicious of you. He basically said he hated you and now You think that he wants you out of L'Manburg. This might all go to shit if you can't get the right answer out of your mouth.

"I love him of course! Why wouldn't you want to marry someone you love?" What a lie.

You continued, "We were set up by a close friend, I am still getting to know him more and more each day, but isn't that with all relationships?"

"It seems so," Tommy spoke.

Tommy began stuttering over his words,

"Of course I know! I've been with women! Anyways, I didn't even know you were apart of the kingdom so-"

"So you wouldn't know how long me and Eret were together! So whatever you were gonna say would be invalid!" You shot back while pointing at him with a smirk.

Tommy hummed, "You're acting very territorial, very defensive."

"Is it bad that I am trying to defend my relationship?" You asked.

"You were very sudden with it." Tommy huffed.

An awkward silence fell upon the two as they kept walking, You not knowing where their destination was. After a while of nothing Tommy started a conversation again.

"I overheard Big E talking about fighting! Do you know how to fight?" Tommy asked enthusiastically.

"I like to think I do!" You said proudly.

You had learned everything you knew from your own self training and Dream of course. He always talked about how great a fighter you would be, so he took it into his hands to train You.

"Well, are you? I didn't see you fighting that many skeletons huh?!"

"Because you kept "running into them" and fighting them yourself!" You yelled back and did air quotations around certain words.

"Cause I wanna get stronger! Buffer! The alpha male!" Tommy boasted.

"Well why put yourself into trouble in the first place?" You sighed.

"Cause it's fun!" Tommy's voice got significantly higher the more he complained.

"You don't think I can fight?" You laughed in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Tommy challenged.

"Then I challenge you to a duel!" You crossed your arms over your chest and tried to size Tommy up, even though you were shorter than him.

"Woah, woah what?!"

You smirked, "You heard me Tommy! I want to fight you."

Tommy began walking faster and You had to do the same. He kept shaking his head and muttering something. You finally caught up with him and overheard what he was muttering.

"What would Wilbur think of this?"

He muttered.

"He would be okay! Fight me! C'mon pussy!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?"

You got him. You really wanted to fight this boy. You could prove yourself to him and even the rest of L'Manburg. You might've been contradicting yourself because of what you had said earlier.

"You shouldn't have to prove yourself to Dream if you want independence."

You shouldn't have to prove yourself to Tommy nor Wilbur to gain their trust. But at the same time you REALLY wanted to fight, have some drama. You're hard-headed just like Tommy, so either way they were going to fight.

"Fine! We will fight by the HTO van tomorrow!" Tommy said walking backwards heading off the path that they were going.

"Deal?" You reached out to shake his hand.

"Fucking deal!" Tommy exclaimed while shaking your hand.

Tommy walked in front of you and made his way to a house made of dirt. It was well made and, although it didn't look horrible, it was probably a secret base.

"This is my home! I'll see you tomorrow for our duel. Don't be late." Tommy said while entering his house and closing the door on You before you got the chance to speak.

This is going to be very interesting.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here!" A british voice appeared to the side of You.

Approaching the Prime Path was of course George and Sapnap. They always appeared at the right time because You were getting nervous you wouldn't make it back to the castle.

"Guys!" You exclaimed.

"Hey! We wanted to talk to you before, but you were occupied with "L'Manburg"." Sapnap put air quotes around L'Manburg like it wasn't real.

"We also wanted to walk you back home. Eret’s not being a good husband huh?" George laughed.

You spoke,"I was fine! Almost blew my cover though."

"WHAT?"

"HUH?"

"Yeah I was walking Tommy home and he asked me why I married Eret and I panicked, but saved it!" You hurriedly explained to the two men.

"Jesus you would have ruined everything." Sapnap rubbed his face while walking ahead of George and You.

"But she didn't! You almost did." George sighed.

"I thought I did well." You hummed.

"Also sorry for the scare earlier." Sapnap said while laughing a bit.

You sarcastically stated, "Yeah the whole "Declaration of War" didn't scare me at all."

"Aw boo hoo!" Sapnap mocked.

George shook his head while trying to keep in a laugh beside You. They were almost to their destination because you saw the huge castle in your sights. Sapnap dragged his feet on the path tiredly while George still had a small pep in his step.

You finally spoke up again, "Who was that other guy with the three of you? I've never seen him before."

"OH you haven't met Punz! He's one of the best fighters in the kingdom." George explained.

"Dream wants him on his side, he's getting many more warriors, "warriors", to fight against your L'Manburg." George put air quotes around warriors as he continued to explain.

"He won't hurt you. None of us will, if that's what you're wondering." Sapnap said bluntly.

"I mean that makes me more comfortable now I definitely know." You hummed and so did Sapnap in agreement.

You would love to say that Dream would never hurt you, but that would be a lie. You never knew Dream's intentions from the beginning, but he always says that it's for your own good and it would work out in the end. You trusts Sapnap and George's word, you trust them with your life. Literally.

The trio made it to the castle's entrance and they all stopped. Sapnap yawned and George rubbed You on the back in a reassuring manner.

"Man, I have a lot to do." You sighed as you looked at the huge arches of the castle.

"Well get some rest! Ease your mind." George said.

"Yeah what he said." Sapnap said while stretching.

You smiled at the two of them before beginning to walk up to the main doors. Sapnap reached out to your shoulder and twisted you around to give the two boys a final look for the night.

"Are you 100% sure you are okay with this plan?" Sapnap said sternly.

"Cause you know we have to report back to the big guy." George added.

You paused for a moment. You looked back on the moment when Wilbur and yourself were in the HTO van

"You haven't found your place, I assume. L'Manburg might be your home."

That whole place could be your home. Her calling, but then Sapnap and George in front of you. What about them?

"When have I ever steered you wrong?!"

Dreams' words circled in your head again for what it seemed like the 5th time today. It was tiring, but it was true. Even if you weren't okay with it you would get killed, so you want Eret and yourself to be safe. You didn't have enough connection with the L'Manburgians to keep them alive. This has to be you calling. Please let this be your calling.

"I am 100% sure. Let's do this."

120 notes · View notes

nyxshadowhawk · 3 years

Text

The Lady of the Labyrinth

My entry for @dionysia-ta-astika's City Dionysia contest! I'm very proud of myself for having finished it in a week, and I thought I'd share it here on my own blog.

Hail Dionysus!

*** Everything was lost. My brother was dead. My love was gone.

I was also stranded on a deserted island. I stared out at the vast, empty expanse of the sea. The sunlight on the waves winked at me with a thousand eyes, as though diamonds had been scattered across the surface of the water. Anyone would find this beach tranquil, I suppose, if they were here under different circumstances than mine.

My brother’s name was Asterion.

Most people didn’t know his name, or even that he had one. To most people, he was the Minotaur, a horrible monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull that eats people. Asterion was a monster, and he did eat people.

Beneath my father’s shining palace, he prowled the twists and turns of the Labyrinth that my father’s genius architect built. The Labyrinth was mine, once. Daedalus made it for me as a dancing path, when I was a little girl. But now it is a dark, disorienting maze of seemingly endless passageways, and I was still the only person who knew how to navigate it. When I could have time alone, I would go to the Labyrinth. I felt my way through its pitch-black corridors, memorizing the nicks and cracks in the rough stone, trying to calm my thoughts. I spoke to Asterion through the walls: “You have never seen the sun,” I said to him. “Do you ever wonder what it’s like in the outside world? Or do you like it down here?” I received no answer from the surrounding darkness. If I did hear something — a snort, or hooves on stone, I would have to run as fast as I could away from the sound. Even I couldn’t go too near Asterion — I wouldn’t want to run the risk that he might attack me.

“Why do you go down there?” My sister, Phaedra, asked me. “What could possibly be appealing about that dark, dismal place?”

“I like it down there,” I said, trying to sound as matter-of-fact as I could. “It is peaceful. And I don’t mind the dark.”

She looked at me like I had suddenly sprouted bull’s horns myself. “You know you risk your life every time you enter the Labyrinth, right?”

“He’s our brother,” I said. I don’t know what I intended to explain by saying that. I felt like I had a responsibility to him that extended beyond simply being his sister. I tried to see a man in him, although he sniffed and bellowed and charged like a bull. He could gore me to death like a bull, but I did not fear him. “I can’t say I love him, but I feel something.”

“You shouldn’t feel any sympathy for him. He’s a freak of nature. The gods cursed us with him for our father’s arrogance. He is a shame upon our kingdom.”

She was right, of course. The gods gifted us a beautiful white bull that we were meant to sacrifice to Poseidon, but my father decided to keep it instead. And Poseidon cursed us… Asterion is the unholy offspring of my mother and the bull. And it gets worse. Every seven years, seven young men and seven young women from the city of Athens were brought to the Labyrinth to be fed to my brother. This was because my other brother, whom I was too young to remember, died while in Athens. Athens pays for this slight with the lives of other young people.

I suppose it’s no different than war, or at least, that’s what my father says. All cities send their youths to die for the polis. How was this any different? I could hardly bear the prisoners’ wails of desperation or their pleas for me to help them. When I heard they were coming, I begged my father to set them free, asserting that it was wrong to sacrifice humans to anything. If the gods had cast Tantalus into Tartarus for feeding them his son, then why should we knowingly feed humans to a monster? He laughed at me and asked why I had no pride in my family.

I hated the thought of the fourteen young people being fed to him, but I also couldn’t imagine killing my own brother, even if he was a monster.

I was too young to remember the last time the prisoners came to the Labyrinth. They had come, and my brother had gorged himself on their flesh, and I was none the wiser. This time, I knew, and the horror of it struck me silent as the tributes were paraded through the city like animal sacrifices to the gods, so that we could all see those who were doomed to die. I could hardly bear to look at them. Some of those girls were barely older than me. It felt wrong to sit by and watch as they were brought to the Labyrinth. But what could I do to save their lives? Supplicating my father would not work, and the only other option was helping them to escape, somehow. How could I do that?

In spite of myself, I caught sight of one of the young men. He was handsome, and he had a defiant, blazing look in his eye. He looked straight at my father on his throne. “I am Theseus of Athens!” he declared. “I have come to slay your monstrous son!”

My father had laughed at him, but he consumed my thoughts. That may be because he was absolutely gorgeous, but it was also because if he succeeded at killing Asterion, he would solve all my problems. I wouldn’t have to take my own brother’s life, but he would devour no more innocent lives. And, if this youth survived, he might take me away with him. I knew the Labyrinth better than anyone. Even if he did survive, he could never make it in and out without my help.

Forgive me, Asterion.

The prisoners were held in two dank cells near the entrance to the Labyrinth. The women were kept in one, and the men were kept in the other. Many of the prisoners were crying — not just the women, but the men, too. In my familiarity with the Labyrinth and its inhabitant, I had forgotten just how terrifying both would be to anyone else. The Labyrinth’s darkness and maddening complexity would intimidate anyone, and the prospect of being eaten by a monster within its depths was horrific.

Only Theseus seemed calm. His boldness in front of my father hadn’t been an act. His jaw was set, and he still had raw determination in his steely eyes. He was really going to do it, wasn’t he? He actually meant to kill Asterion. He shone like gold in the gloom of the dungeon — he could have been Apollo. If our circumstances were different, I might have wanted to stroke his chest. “Who are you?” he demanded when I approached the cell, as though I were the one behind bars, and had requested an audience with him.

“I am Ariadne,” I said, “daughter of Minos, princess of Crete.”

“I am Theseus, son of Aegeus, prince of Athens,” he returned.

Prince of Athens. That explained his noble bearing and proud mien, not to mention his handsome features… and yet… “There is no way the King of Athens would have sent his own son to be fed to the Minotaur,” I said. “Why are you really here?”

“I said, didn’t I? I’m here to slay the Minotaur. I volunteered as tribute.” He smirked. “I promised my father that I would return alive. No more of our people will be sacrificed to the monster!”

“You speak with a lot of confidence for someone who is currently in a prison cell,” I said. “What are you going to do, Theseus? Do you have a plan?”

“Of course I have a plan!” he said, a little defensively. “I am going to break out of this cell. And then I will conquer the Labyrinth—”

“How? You’ll be dead of starvation before you even reach the Minotaur, assuming he doesn’t find you first.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you taunting me?”

I leaned forward, looking directly into his eyes. “No. I was actually going to offer to help you. I know the Labyrinth. I go into it all the time.”

“No, you don’t. You’re trying to get me to sleep with you. Or trying to deceive me on behalf of Minos.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn’t find anything to say in response to that. For a moment I just stared at him. Was he always this self-assured, even in the worst of circumstances? If he wanted to sleep with me, I certainly wouldn’t complain, but why would he assume that I would deceive him? Well, perhaps it was his right to be suspicious, in a strange land where he was kept as a prisoner. “I… no,” I finally replied. “I’m being serious. I’m here to help you.”

“Why, then?”

“I think it is very noble of you to want to save the other Athenians, and I agree that no more innocent lives should be lost.”

He smiled slightly, but still looked suspicious. “You have no loyalty to your father?”

“My father is cruel and selfish. Why else do you think my mother gave birth to a monster, anyway?”

“The monster is your brother? What was his father, a bull?”

“Yes.”

That seemed to have stunned him into silence. I felt some satisfaction at that. “Listen to me. Without my help, you will not get through the Labyrinth. If you want to kill the Minotaur, you need me.”

“What’s the catch?” he asked. “You’re going to want something in return, aren’t you? What?”

“Take me off this accursed rock,” I said. “I am sick of Crete, I’m sick of my father, and I don’t want to have to put up with whatever punishment he might give me for helping you.”

“Well, you are a princess, and I suppose you would make a fine bride for me.”

My heart leapt at those words, and I felt myself blushing. Perhaps I should have known better. “Really? You would marry me?”

“If you help me to slay the Minotaur, then yes, I will marry you.”

“Deal.”

Theseus remained in my thoughts from that point onward. When I closed my eyes, I saw his face, and I imagined the feel of his skin. I’d never seen a man like him before, and oh, if I married him… would I be happy? Happier than I was here, at least? He seemed like the kind of man that Phaedra and I dreamed we would marry as young girls — strong, brave, handsome, and willing to put himself on the line for the sake of his people. All such admirable qualities.

I returned to Theseus when the prisoners were locked into the Labyrinth’s abyssal maw. “Everyone else, stay back!” he ordered, as though he were directing troops. “I will go into the Labyrinth and kill the Minotaur. Stay here, and you will be safe.” He suddenly turned to me. “What have you brought to help me?”

I held out a humble ball of yarn. “This.”

He took it from my hand and raised an eyebrow at it, looking as though he might throw it into the dark. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Daedalus gave it to me when I first started exploring the Labyrinth.”

“Daedalus? I’ve heard of Daedalus. He is supposed to be the most brilliant architect in the world, right?”

“He built this Labyrinth, and he gave me the yarn. All you have to do is tie the end here and carry it through the maze. Then you can follow it back out.”

Theseus looked impressed. “He must be a genius to have thought of something like that!”

He may have been a genius, but I was still intelligent enough to figure it out on my own. All Daedalus had done was hand me the ball of yarn, and I immediately understood what I was meant to do with it. But I didn’t bother correcting Theseus. “Do you have a weapon?”

“No,” said Theseus. “I’m not worried. I’ll kill the beast with my bare hands.”

I blinked at him, dumbfounded. I suppose if anyone could do it, he could; he was almost as musclebound as the bull-man. But still. Only an extremely impressive hero with divine lineage could hope to kill a monster bare-handed, that or a total idiot. “You are going to die.”

“Nonsense!” He smiled. “Haven’t died yet! And I have faced many deadly trials before.”

I smiled back. “I’m sure you have, but, well, it’s your funeral.”

“Do you want this monster dead, or not?” he demanded.

“Woah, I wasn’t being serious, I…” To be asked that question point-blank was unsettling. It threw my whole dilemma into focus. But seeing the terrified faces of the other tributes huddled naked in the entrance to the Labyrinth gave me my answer. “Yes.”

“I shall go then.” He tied the yarn to the gate and strode with it into the dark. I admired his confidence, even if the odds were against him. He turned the first corner, and was gone. I stared into the darkness for a moment.

One of the girls gripped the hem of my dress. “Please,” she whispered. “Please help us, my lady. We did nothing to be here. If he dies, will you help us escape?”

I didn’t look at her. I kept staring into the Labyrinth’s depths. “I will do what I can,” I said slowly. Then I followed Theseus. I heard her gasp behind me, as if her last hope had just walked away.

I overtook Theseus quickly. He was moving slowly, blindly hitting walls and getting disoriented by the serpentine turns. He jumped when he heard me behind him, turned on his heel and braced for attack, staring me down with the intensity of a bull about to charge. Then he softened. “Oh. It’s you. What are you doing here? I don’t need your help.”

“I know this place better than you do,” I said matter-of-factly.

He huffed in response. “Get back to the entrance. The Minotaur could arrive at any moment.”

I walked ahead of him. “I know. Every time I explore the Labyrinth, I risk death.”

“Why would you explore this place?” he asked, following me. “What could it possibly offer a girl like you?”

“Peace. Solitude. Time away from my father.”

“This Labyrinth is maddening!” His growing frustration echoed off the walls. “How are you not mad? Perhaps you are mad, with the things you say.”

“I’ve never considered that I might be mad.”

“Only if you were mad would you willingly choose to be in this dark prison.”

“You willingly chose to be here.”

He had no response. We walked in silence for a while, dragging the thread behind us. It was almost impossible to see the thread in the dark. I could tell that Theseus was starting to get agitated. The twining paths of the Labyrinth must be making him feel like we were making no progress. The grim silence and high stone walls made us feel completely cut off from the outside world, like there was no world at all beyond the Labyrinth. “Do you think this is what Hades is like?” he asked. “A deep cavern, under the earth, where there is nothing to do but walk endlessly?”

I couldn’t tell whether that was a sincere philosophical question, or whether he was asking indignantly. “I don’t know. The Fields of Asphodel are supposed to be open, and full of the white flowers… Not quite like this.”

“It makes no difference to me anyway. I will assuredly go to Elysium when I die, and it is the most agreeable part of Hades.”

If Hades is exactly like this, I thought, then perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. There are worse things than this.

Eventually, we passed the point where I usually turned back. I had never gotten this close to the center before. And then we heard it — the unmistakable sound of hooves. Cold terror gripped me. I did not expect to feel this afraid, especially not of my own brother, but the reality of the situation sank in. We were in a Labyrinth with a flesh-eating monster, and the exit was too far away for any chance of escape. Why did I follow him? Why did I think that was a good idea?

“Our quarry is upon us! You should leave,” said Theseus sternly. “The monster eats the maidens first, so I hear.”

The instinct to run left me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Suit yourself, but you will not be able to fight against the Minotaur.”

“You will protect me, will you?” Being with him felt safe, like he was a bodyguard.

“I will.” As soon as he said that, my fear was banished, and my confidence restored.

A few more turns, and we reached the center of the Labyrinth, a place I figured I’d never enter. In the gloom, I couldn’t actually see much, but I was able to see the hulking shape of my brother with his huge bull’s head and wicked-looking horns.

“There is the beast!” A light suddenly blazed to life beside me, and I cringed away from its brightness. It was a torch.

“Did you have that the whole time?”

“I was saving it!” He handed me the torch and the end of the yarn, and I took them, nonplussed. I saw the floor of the Labyrinth’s center, full of human bones. “Wait there, I will make swift work of this!” Theseus took a fighting stance, muscles tensed.

Asterion looked at me. I felt blind panic grip me, but he did not attack me. Perhaps he recognized me. He must have been familiar with my presence and voice by now, enough to know I wasn’t a threat. I stared into his black bull eyes. They were soft, not fiery and enraged. This was my brother. “Asterion… I’m so sorry, Asterion.”

“What are you doing? Get back!”

Theseus’ yell attracted Asterion’s attention. He roared and rushed forward with his powerful legs, horns lowered and ready to gore him to death. Theseus grabbed Asterion’s horns and hurled himself up onto the Minotaur’s back, holding him in a chokehold with both arms. “I shall send you to the pit of Tartarus, fiend!” Asterion thrashed and bucked and slammed Theseus against the wall, but soon enough, it was over. Theseus had strangled the Minotaur. Asterion lay dead.

Theseus picked himself up, looking exhausted but triumphant. “Victory! No Athenians will die today, or ever! This monster will never claim another human life!” He grinned at me. “See, I told you I could do it with my bare hands!”

I stared at the mass of Asterion’s body. “I killed my brother…”

“Nonsense!” Theseus took the torch back from me. The bones crunched under his feet as he walked. “It is hardly your fault that you are the sister of a beast. We have done a good and heroic thing today. Look, look at the bones! Why are you crying, Ariadne?”

I suddenly looked at him instead of the Minotaur’s corpse. I don’t think he’d said my name before. Even in the dim torchlight, he still looked bright, with clear eyes and golden hair and bronze skin slick with sweat. “I couldn’t have done this without you, Ariadne.” He smiled at me. “Thank you. Together we have saved many lives.”

He kissed me, and the torch went out.

The following events were a blur. After we had successfully followed the thread out of the Labyrinth, Theseus triumphantly announced to my father that the Minotaur was dead, and demanded me and my sister as prizes. My father was furious — of course he was. He had essentially just lost all of his children, and all because one had died in Athens before I was old enough to remember. I, however, was elated, and so was Phaedra. Phaedra was as eager to leave Crete as I was, and she seemed just as taken with Theseus’ handsomeness. She didn’t seem distressed that Asterion was dead, and why would she? The grateful Athenians went back to their ship, many of them sobbing with relief. I didn’t look at my father as I followed Theseus to the ship. I never wanted to look at him again. We passed by Talos, and I left Knossos and the Labyrinth behind me.

Crete faded into the horizon, and before me was sunshine and new possibilities. Theseus glowed with triumph and pride, smiling at me and kissing me when he announced to the other Athenians that he would marry me, and that I would become their queen. They fell to their knees and showered me and Theseus with gratitude for having saved their lives. I felt almost as if I were a goddess. Wine flowed freely in celebration, and I took more joy in it than I had in a long time.

It did not last long. Soon after the first few hours I was, if possible, even more miserable on Theseus’ ship than I had been in Knossos. I quickly became tired of his boasts about how he had strangled the beast, without crediting me at all, or so much as mentioning the ball of yarn, even though the other Athenians had seen me give it to him and seen me follow him into the Labyrinth. Every time he told the story, it got further from the truth, and emphasized his own heroism over mine. Is this how it would be when I was queen? No matter what I did, I’d be shunted to the side? Then, Theseus seemed to be doting on Phaedra. She usually attracted more attention. She was prettier than me. She had blond hair that shined in the sunlight and the bright eyes of our mother Pasiphae, the daughter of Helios. My hair and eyes were dark, like the Labyrinth.

I left the celebration, finding a quiet spot on deck. I sat by the edge of the ship, staring out into the open waves and trying not to think about Asterion, but the image of him lying dead in the torchlight haunted me. “Are you okay, Ariadne?” Phaedra asked me. “What is wrong? We are finally out of there, all thanks to you! No more Minotaur, no more tributes having to die, no more Father… We will have a new life in Athens.” I stayed silent. “You look despondent. Something’s wrong.”

I looked up into her eyes. “It’s like you said, Phaedra. Asterion is dead.”

“Do you… mourn him?”

“He was our brother, and I killed him!”

“Theseus killed him! You did nothing!” I knew that she meant to reassure me, but it touched a raw nerve.

“He would not have if I hadn’t led him straight to the center of the Labyrinth!”

“Ariadne…” Phaedra put her hand on my shoulder. “You… you’re… you’ll be okay. You are just a little bit disoriented.” She left me alone.

I looked at the Athenians, who laughed and danced and celebrated their lives. I didn’t feel like dancing. I already missed the Labyrinth. My guilt drew my thoughts back to Knossos. I wanted to hide in the Labyrinth forever, like Asterion had, or else throw myself into the sea for my guilt. The brightness of the waves was glaring compared to the soothing darkness of the Labyrinth.

Theseus approached me from behind. He had been ignoring me until now, maybe because I was so sorrowful. I could feel that he was angry at me, and my skin crawled, but I didn’t turn. “What cause do you have to weep, Ariadne? You should be happy!” he said.

“I am sorry, Theseus. Part of me still mourns for my brother.”

“What is the matter with you? All you have done is sit and stare at the water! If you loved that Labyrinth so much, perhaps you should have stayed there! Now please, put this sorrow behind you. You have no cause for it.” He sighed, softening. “When we arrive in Athens, we shall marry, and there will be much rejoicing.”

“Leave me alone.” The bitterness in my voice rang louder than I’d intended.

He scowled at me.“You are joyless, passionless, and thankless,” he spat, and stalked off. The word useless went unsaid; I could tell he was reconsidering making me his wife.

“Theseus, wait!” I yelled, suddenly sounding desperate.

I stood up, and he turned back to look at me, and I felt as if I were naked under his gaze and that of the others on the ship, which had all quieted and turned in my direction. His eyes were cold, and his nostrils flared just as Asterion’s had. “What, Ariadne? You have shown me neither gratitude nor pleasure, you have not acted like a princess. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Shamed, I said nothing. I sat back down. Then, as he was about to turn away again, I suddenly found my voice. “Why are you being cruel?”

“I am not being cruel. You are being difficult.”

By the time we reached Naxos, I was feeling heartbroken as well as grief-stricken. Theseus was giving me the silent treatment. I think he expected me to come running to him begging for forgiveness. We stopped on the island to rest, primarily because Theseus had dreamt that he would stop here during his homecoming.

I took off my sandals and walked along the edge of the surf to clear my thoughts. The beach was bright and wide and open, the exact opposite of the Labyrinth. Even in the sand, I felt his heavy footsteps approaching behind me. “Ariadne, we need to talk.”

I continued to face away from him. “What?”

“Ariadne, I find your attitude disagreeable.”

I turned on my heel to face him, planting myself in the sand. “I’ve found your attitude disagreeable! All you have done since we left Crete is boast about your heroics, and you’ve barely given me any credit—”

“Credit! You want credit for having slain it, when all you have done is cry over the hideous thing?”

The disdain in his voice stung me like arrows. “You don’t care at all for me or my feelings, do you?”

“If you were to become my queen, I would expect better behavior from you.” He sounded like he was lecturing a child.

“Well… I don’t want to be your queen! You are almost as bad as my father!”

“Good. I have already decided to take your sister Phaedra as my bride instead.” I didn’t reply. “You may still return with us to Athens, but we will have to make other arrangements for you.”

Forget Athens. I didn’t want Theseus to do anything for me. “Oh, forgive me for having been such a disappointment to you! Go ahead, go back to Athens and marry my sister! By Zeus! I’ve had enough of you!”

And I ran. I turned away from Theseus and ran down the beach until my legs gave out, falling in the sand to sulk and wonder where it all went wrong. I regretted having ever met Theseus, or helped him to kill my brother. If I could undo it all, I would. No. Then innocent people would have died. Oh, gods, why am I so wretched?

And then, as I was just beginning to calm down, I saw that the ship was sailing away over the waves. I was stranded on the island. Despair and panic crashed down upon me. Oh gods, gods, why? Had I somehow been forgotten about, or left behind on purpose? Had Theseus doomed me to die? “CURSE you, Theseus!” I screamed at the distant ship. I watched it go until it disappeared over the horizon. I could do nothing but hopelessly stare at the wine-dark sea as the sun set.

“Excuse me, why are you crying?”

I had been sitting with my head in my arms, weeping despondently, and I was startled by the sudden voice, soft though it was. I was certain the island was deserted, but now, a young man stood before me. He was silhouetted against the sky, the sun shining behind his head like a halo. Where had he come from? I hadn’t heard him come. It was though he’d simply stepped out of the sea.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and my voice sounded cracked from crying. “I thought I was alone.”

“May I sit with you?” the man asked. “You look like you could use a drink, something to soothe you, hm?”

“Yes… yes, thank you.”

He sat down in the sand next to me, languidly stretching his legs out in front of him like he was sitting on the plushest couch. With the sunlight on him, I could see him properly — he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen in my life. He easily put Theseus to shame. His eyes were leafy green, warm and kind. He was lithe, and his skin looked as pale and smooth as a girl’s, and his lips looked so soft. I couldn’t place the color of his hair — it seemed to be dark brown, but it could have been as dark as the Styx, and when the sun caught it, it looked honey-gold. It fell over his shoulders in loose curls. He wore nothing but a fine purple cloak draped over one shoulder, a golden leopard skin around his waist, and a wreath of ivy on his head. His cheeks were flushed, and he had a bright, easy smile. He was so lovely, so breathtaking, it almost hurt to look at him. With delicate hands, he offered me a kylix brimming with wine. “Please, tell me what has made you so upset.”

I blinked at the kylix, and the leopard skin, and the ivy in his hair. “Are you… a Bacchant?” I’d heard of them. They worshipped a mad and savage god with drunken orgies in the woods, and were said to be able to rip animals or even people limb-from-limb in their frenzy. Not unlike Asterion, I suppose.

He flashed a devious smile. “Maaaaybe.”

I took the kylix and drank deeply. The wine was sweet, and somehow, I felt immediately calmer. Slowly, amid my lingering sobs, I told the story — about Asterion, and my father, and the tributes, how I’d decided to help Theseus, how we’d found our way through the Labyrinth, how Theseus had killed Asterion, how Theseus had been so heartless, and how he had apparently left me to die on a deserted island. By the time I finished talking, the kylix was empty.

“How do you feel now?” he asked me.

“Better… I think. But I’m still devastated, and… guilty. My brother’s death… it was really my fault, and I don’t know if I did the right thing or not. Do you think it’s wrong for me to grieve for my brother? I mean… he was a monster…”

“No. I don’t think it’s wrong. It is perfectly understandable that you would mourn your brother.”

“If I had let the Athenians die, I would have mourned for them, too.” I sighed.

“Yes. There must be blood; one sacrifice was traded for another, Asterion, the worthy bull. It is okay to grieve, for as long as you need to, but do not wallow in despair.”

“I tend to do that. I don’t remember the last time I was completely happy. I thought Theseus would make me happy, but… then… I wish I had my Labyrinth back! It was at least soothing down there.”

“It pains me to see people sad,” he said. He handed me the kylix again, and it was once again full of wine. I hadn’t seen him fill it. “Pleasure is a state of mind. The best way to rid yourself of sadness is to focus on things that make you happy. There is always something to take pleasure in! Like the beauty of the sunset, or the sound of the lapping waves. Or wine!”

“Not when you are abandoned to die, with no way off the island,” I said. “How did you get here, anyway? I don’t see a boat.”

“I have my ways,” he said cryptically, with that same mischievous smile. That smile and the teasing sparkle in his eyes were so adorable. His beauty is something to take pleasure in, I suddenly thought, and his company, and kindness…

I took another draught of the wine. “Why are the gods so cruel to me?” I murmured, more to myself than to him.

“The gods are not cruel to you.” He stated it with complete confidence, as though it were an undeniable fact, not as though he were trying to convince me.

“It certainly seems that way,” I replied.

“Life can often seem that way, but then, it gets better, and you will find that the gods favor you,” he said.

“Well… I suppose that must be true, if handsome strangers pop out of nowhere to comfort women.”

He beamed. “Exactly!” He took the kylix back from me, threw his head back, and drained about half of it in one gulp. “You know, I was stranded on a desert island like this one once.”

“Wait, what? You were?”

“Yes! It was a long time ago now, but I was just as pretty back then, and just as fond of wearing purple. Purple is the best color, you know.” He winked. “Anyway, so I was lying asleep on a beach and—” he took another swig of the wine, “a pirate ship rows by…”

“Are you drunk?”

“Always, darling!” That roguish grin of his was really starting to win me over. “Anyway, the pirates saw me sleeping on the beach, saw how pretty I was and saw my fine purple robes, and thought I was a prince. Well. They weren’t wrong… I technically am a prince of Thebes, on my mother’s side.” He laughed like he had just told the most hilarious joke and had another sip of the wine. The amount of wine in the kylix never seemed to get any lower.

“Does that mean… you’re a bastard?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes, yes it does! I’m such a bastard. I mean… I was born out of wedlock. And my father’s wife, oooh, she hates me.” Another sip of the wine. “Never get on her bad side if you can help it.” He pointed at me as if this was the most important information I could ever learn, and I laughed. “She can’t touch me now, but she drove me mad when I was younger. Literally. Anyway, so these pirates kidnapped me. Thought I’d make a damn cute catamite, and I certainly would, but that’s beside the point. You don’t and kidnap boys no matter how pretty they are. I tried to tell my dad that, but it didn’t go over well.” Another sip of the wine.

“You are slender, but I bet you could take Theseus in a drinking contest.”

“Oh, I could take aaaaaanyone in a drinking contest! Never lost one yet!” His face was glowing, not just with blush from the wine but also with infectious joy. I slowly forgot about my misfortunes as I listened to his story. “So they tried to tie me to the ship’s mast, but found they couldn’t do it. I only tolerate bondage on my own terms. And then…” There was suddenly a mad gleam in his green eyes. “I covered their ship in grapevines, and ivy, and flowers, and the delicious smell of wine. I can’t imagine why such delightful things frightened them so. But I thought I’d scare them more, see, because it was funny. So I turned into a lion! And they flung themselves overboard in fear!” He laughed, and his laugh sounded as musical as flutes on a clear morning, but it had a maddened edge to it. “But I pitied them, y’know?” he continued. “Just as you pity your brother. So I changed them into dolphins. So they wouldn’t drown.”

“You changed… you turned into… did… did your god give you those powers? Or… are you just… really… drunk?” But I knew. I think that intuitively, I knew the whole time.

“Easy,” he said, once again raising the bottomless kylix to his lips with that knowing smile. “I’m really drunk.”

At this, I burst out laughing, and my laugh sounded almost unfamiliar to my own ears. I felt light, carefree, replenished. And then it sank in, that I was speaking to a god. I hastily knelt, and dropped my head before him, although he was still sitting next to me. “Lord Dionysus! Son of Zeus! Lord, lord, thank you for coming to me, for talking to me, for relieving me of my pain, for freeing me from my suffering…”

“You’re welcome, Ariadne.” He lifted my face, so that I was staring up into his eyes, which were now vivid reddish-purple, the color of ripe grapes. A richly purple aura surrounded him, proclaiming his divinity. In his hand was his staff, a fennel stalk topped with a pinecone that dripped with honey, twined with ivy and purple ribbons. And he had horns, bull’s horns just like my brother’s, magnificent and deadly sharp. They curved up above his brow, as much his crown as the wreath of ivy in his hair. The imposing horns created a striking contrast with his delicate features, but they looked right, somehow. Like this was how he was supposed to look.

I didn’t know what to say. My mind had gone suddenly blank. “I’ve never known great Dionysus to have horns,” I blurted.

“Not many get to see them,” he said, his voice suddenly slow and solemn. “Ariadne, will you dance with me?”

Whatever I had expected him to say, it was not that. “Wh—what?”

“Dance with me!” He stood up and twirled off across the beach. His hair floated around his shoulders, the ribbons on his thyrsus arced through the air like the rainbow, and his expression was one of elation. He screamed in ecstasy, and it was an inhuman sound, like the crowing of some unearthly bird. At that, the air filled with cacophonous music — flutes, drums, cymbals, rattles, castanets.

A command echoed inside my head. No, not a command — a compulsion: DANCE! DANCE!

So I danced with the bull-horned god. “Dancing” barely even begins to describe what I was doing. I was filled with an overwhelming, indescribable feeling, like I didn’t fit in my own skin. Like I was about to be lifted out of my own shoulders! I moved like my body was doing everything it could to express this ineffable thing inside me that was so much bigger than me. I spun, I leapt, I ran, I stamped my feet in the sand, I moved wherever the feeling took me. It burned like fire. And Dionysus was all I could perceive. I screamed with both intense rapture and pure, genuine worship: “EUOI! EUOI! EUOI!”

I met his eyes, and there I saw all the raw ferocity of a bull or a great cat, as well as chaos and lust and debauchery and pure mania. All the forces strong enough to tear a person apart! I desperately thirsted for something I could not name. It was more than wine, more than flesh, more than blood. Dionysus took me in his arms, and kissed me on the lips. Passion overtook me.

Maybe I fainted in exhilaration, or maybe I was simply too drunk to remember. All I know was that I was eventually awakened by the sunrise and the sound of lapping waves. And Dionysus… was still there. He hadn’t disappeared into the night, he was still sleeping there in the sand, looking blissful and alluring in his sleep. His tousled curls tumbled over the sand, his soft hand was upturned beside his head, and his lips were parted invitingly. He lay on his purple cloak, and was using the leopard pelt like a blanket, though it was only carelessly draped over his waist.

“Lord… thank you for not leaving me,” I whispered.

His long eyelashes fluttered, and then his eyes opened, once again appearing vine-green. “Mmmm… sleep well?”

“Yes.” I desperately wanted to kiss him, and the seductive look in his eyes tempted me. “May I… touch you?”

“Darling, you may touch me anywhere you like,” he purred. Ravenously, I wrapped my arms around his waist, pressed my chest to his, and our lips met. He still tasted like wine, and I drank him in the way I would wine. We lay there for a moment, entangled in each other’s arms like grape and ivy vines, idly caressing each other’s skin and hair.

“M’lord…” I whispered, “perhaps it might be impertinent to ask, but… what am I going to do now? I can’t go home. I don’t really want to go to Athens. And I still have no way off this island.”

“Why, Ariadne,” he gave me a teasing smile. “If I may be so bold, I hoped you would join me! In fact… I hope you might marry me.”

I was so taken aback by this that I immediately sat up. “You… you’re serious? Marry you?” I knew that gods frequently took mortal lovers, but this was unimaginable. “Actually marry you?”

“Yes, Ariadne. I love you.” He said it with the same sweetness and sincerity that he initially approached me with. Theseus had said no such thing. “You are not destined to become queen of Athens, but perhaps you might be my queen, if you are willing.”

I burst into tears, but they weren’t tears of sadness this time. They were tears of overwhelm, the same kind of overflowing sensation that I’d felt while dancing. “You love me?”

“I am absolutely besotted, my darling! I have had many lovers, but I had not fallen so madly in love since Ampelos, my first love, my darling vine.” A grapevine appeared between his fingers and twined up his arm. “Perhaps something in me is inclined towards mortals over gods, which is understandable, given my parentage. But, that should be no problem. I will bring you to Olympus, and love you for all of time.”

“How… why me?” I sputtered. “What have I done to deserve this?”

“Ariadne, you are letting your human mind interfere, and convince you that you are not worthy to be in my presence. Did you feel unworthy last night, while we were dancing?”

“No… I felt… there was no such thing.”

“Ariadne, do you love me?”

I struggled to find any word that could properly describe how I felt about him. “You are… utterly intoxicating.”

He giggled like a shy maiden. “I get that a lot. And, if you could be worthy of having me as a husband, would you have me?”

Yes. My body and soul ached and burned with wanting. And he made me extraordinarily happy! I’d never dared to believe a god would love me enough to marry me, but that disbelief was only getting in my way.

He looked me dead in the eyes. I nearly flinched away from the intensity of his gaze, and the shimmering madness behind it. “You are more than you realize, Ariadne, guide in the dark, guardian of the gates of initiation. You are intelligent and witty and brave, and you fear no darkness or madness or savagery, do you? You faced them all in the Labyrinth. You would make an excellent addition to my thiasus, even if you decide not to marry me. Ariadne, the most holy and pure, Lady of the Labyrinth.” His words reverberated deep in the labyrinthine pathways of my own mind and soul, like he had revealed an ancient truth that I had known once, but forgotten.

“The Labyrinth is a holy place, of contemplation and transformation. Isn’t it? Not of death.”

He smiled that gorgeous, winning smile again. “Yes! You understand! And even where there is death, it is not absolute.” His eyes shone with feverish excitement. “Oh, I have so much to teach you!”

“Lord Dionysus, I would be honored beyond imagining if I were to become your wife.”

“So is that a yes? You will marry me?”

Something about him felt right in a way that I could not put words to, like the Fates had done all they could to bring me to this moment. This god loved me, more than the other gods love their conquests, more than I could comprehend. “Yes! I will marry you!”

At that, a cool wind blew across the island, swirling his dark hair around his face and making all the vegetation appear to shimmer. It was like the island itself was affirming my decision. “Then, Ariadne, we shall rule the revel together! In honor of our engagement…” A magnificent diadem appeared in his hands, sparkling with seven gemstones like stars. He placed it on my head, and gave me a warm kiss on my lips. “Ariadne, my bride, may you never thirst. May your lusts never go unsatisfied. May your heart always be light and joyful.”

“Thank you. Thank you, m’lord!”

“You can stop calling me that. If we are to be married, you can simply call me by my name. Or, call me what pleases you. Now, come with me!” He stood, offering me his hand. “Unless you would rather spend some more alone time together, I should finally take you off this island! I will take you home to Nysa, or perhaps to Arcadia, and we will have to throw the most spectacular bacchanal in celebration of our marriage!”

“How will we travel?”

He led me down the beach like a child eager to show something to their parent, and gestured toward a golden chariot drawn by two gigantic panthers. The chariot itself was decorated in images of swirling grapevines and serpents and satyrs making love, and the cats’ pelts gleamed. “Oh, gods… I mean… wow. Does it move over water?”

“It flies, silly!” He stood inside it and beckoned to me. “These cats can run on the wind. Hermes gave them to me.”

I climbed into the chariot and held on for dear life as the panthers bounded into the air with great strides. Soon the chariot was blazing through the bright air, and Naxos was far behind us. Dionysus laughed into the wind, which blew his long hair back from his face. As radiant as he was, I was more than a little terrified of speeding through the air high above the sea in a chariot, and felt like I would fall off at any second, although not even my diadem was dislodged from my head.

“You look terror-stricken, Ariadne. Would you like me to tell you another amusing story? That seems to have cheered you up the last time!”

“That depends on whether you can drive a chariot and get incredibly drunk at the same time.”

He laughed uproariously. “Oh, I love you so much! I can do anything and get incredibly drunk, if you were wondering. So, anyway, the story… Mortals have mixed opinions of me. Most love my parties and stories and love my wine, but they seem a bit put off by the madness and violence and lust it brings out in them… Not sure why, it’s not as though all of that wasn’t there to begin with… Mortal kings do not like this, and some of them can be quite unkind to my worshippers, testing the limits of my mercy… but one of them allowed my mentor, Silenus, to sleep in his garden. So kind of him! So of course I offered him any reward he might wish for, and… he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold.”

“Ooh. Let me guess, it backfired?”

“Oh, did it backfire! His food turned to gold and he nearly starved, and even his daughter turned to gold! Hardly my fault, of course. I promised to give him what he asked for, and I did, he just happened to be an idiot. He had the chance to wish for anything in the world, and he chose something as shallow and pointless as gold. Not to mention, he clearly had never heard of inflation, which makes me worry about his kingdom’s economy. Oh, well. He learned, and I changed everything back. I always let humans indulge themselves, but I am not a god of excess. Either they are satisfied by their pleasures, or they learn their lesson fast. The moral of the story: Know your tolerance. Also, if you want to turn things to gold, you have to do it the hard way. Hermes and I were just discussing how to turn lead to gold, in fact…”

His soothing voice and hilarious tales put me at ease, until we were traveling over beautiful mountains and verdant valleys. I had never seen mainland Greece, but the view of it from the flying chariot was incredible. I was no longer afraid of falling. As we flew, I felt as if the wind stripped me of the cares and sorrows of my former life. Dionysus had set me free. I smiled at him, and he smiled at me as the chariot descended into the lush, hidden valley where a throng of Maenads and satyrs waited to welcome home their lord and his queen.

Dionysus helped me out of the chariot, and I stood before the thiasus, their maddened eyes all turned upon me. “I am the bride of Dionysus,” I proclaimed. “I am Ariadne of the Labyrinth.”

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dionysia-ta-astika · 3 years

Text

The Lady of the Labyrinth

For Dionysus.

Everything was lost. My brother was dead. My love was gone.