LAST CHAPTER. NO MORE. SORRY. OKAY. HAPPY READING.
"I'm ready and I will do this. I'm ready and I need to do this," he told him self repeatedly. Dionysus knew this was necessary, but didn't know what to make of the consequences. What happens if he's put in Tartarus? Would he be taken off the Olympian Council? Would Zeus do everything in his path to be rid of him? The god stood up from his position on the bed and judged the time. Midnight. Time to begin.
Dionysus god traveled there, Hermes would know he was there, and went to the vineyard there. He knew the paths like the back of his hand. The speedily and stealthily ran over to the wine barrels, under the terraces of the Olympian gods. But before he could do anything, he looked for her. The love of his life, the love he missed for so long. Under the terrace he Iris messaged her, Ariadne.
"Ariadne," he called with a faint smile carried on his voice.
She grinned brightly through the message, "Hello Dionysus."
"Come out to the terrace," the god pleaded slightly.
"Okay, anything for you." Ariadne walked slowly to the terrace and looked out across the sky. It was a starry night filled with constellations known to the gods. She smiled with a grace unlike the other goddesses and kindness that could not be beat.
"Look below." Dionysus walked out into the light coming from the room. He stood, bathed in that light, as his wife saw him. Tears reached her eyes and she shook her head with a smile. Ariadne called out to him, for him to come up, but he says, "One moment." Bending down on one knew, he says, "You are my only love, forever more. And I am sorry." The god flew back under the marble structure and disappeared. He went on with the plan.
When he left, Ariadne had an expression unknown to world, it represented: sadness, worry, happiness, joy, carelessness, anger, bliss, and the dream that one day they will be together again, for a time unending. She sighed, aloud, and spoke sternly to herself, "I will wait always and forever, for you to come back to me one day."
Dionysus knew the best wine was kept under Zeus' terrace, so he reached the cellar's door. Looking at the lock, he smiled, it was a simple code that any Olympian (or smart demigod) would be able to crack. It took him a few seconds. He didn't walk in just yet, it was necessary to check for booby traps. None, he thinks. Dionysus entered the cellar carefully, but there was nothing to be afraid of.
The cellar was laced with cobwebs and the smell of old wine, some of his his hands over the bottles, he looked for one he could have that would go unnoticed. And he found it. An old wine, one from Greece, and he smiled. "This one," he whispered to himself. Dionysus touched the bottle, held it in his hands gently, "A special brew." He smiled at his little joke.
The wine he held was the one he especially brewed for his wedding day. Of course, no one drank it since then. And only Ariadne and himself have every tasted or even seen the actual liquid of the wine. It was a white wine, light of course, but with the richness of red wine and beer. This special brew made one barrel, and takes around a century to ferment. This was the only god who knew the aspects of this particular brew, and has never told a soul. He picked up the bottle and retreated back to camp.
Dionysus faced the one-way window and looked out at the camp. He laid back on his bed in a suit. Always had to dress fancy for this. He opened the bottle, slightly, so the aroma filled the room. The god sighed, and smiled. "Finally," he exhaled. He pulled the cork the rest of the way off and pulled a wine glass from his bedside table. He looked at the glass sometimes, it was a goblet he first became a god, and remembered the feeling of power that washed over him in an instant. The glass reminded him also of his wife when she became a goddess. He was sipping from it that day, slowly, and shared the goblet with Ariadne.
He poured the wine in his transparent goblet, half full. First smell, a small taste, spit, another sip. A genuine smile escaped his lips. His head tilted back, eyes closed, and he fell backwards. He bounced slightly, on the bed, but didn't spill. Not at all. Not one drop going to waste. Dionysus spent the night, and the next day, savoring the taste of the over-a-hundred-year-old wine.
The god walked out the next day, no hangover of course, and smiled. A bright smile at noon. But Zeus was in the Big House, talking with Chiron. The King approached Dionysus slowly, with determination and fierceness. The lesser god shivered in his wake.
"Dionysus," Zeus roared.
"Father," he replied in a whimper.
"Di' Immortals, you have betrayed me, the other immortals, all of us." Zeus' face redden as his anger began to unleash. "You have broken your punishment and will pay!"
Dionysus quivered, Chiron stepped up. "Father, he has spent years in torture already. Take pity, please. Pity."
"NO. Pity will not be given, we will leave. Now." Zeus took Dionysus' arm and left Chiron at camp, untouched. Chiron wondered, the rest of the day, what happened to Dionysus. He didn't see him for a long time.
"Sit." Zeus ordered Dionysus to be set in chains in the center on display for all the gods, goddess, and creatures who turned out for the event. "What punishment shall be given?"
"Chain him and leave him under a mountain, perpetual pain!" Ares called out.
The nymphs smiled, "We second that!"
"No punishment," Ariadne said in a quiet voice. She sat close enough for Aphrodite and Hera to hear.
"I second that!" Hera boasted in confidence.
"I agree too!" Aphrodite added.
Zeus had an interior debate. Eventually he spoke clearly for everyone to here, "Raise thy hand for no punishment." Athena counted the raised hands, exactly half smiled up at her with their votes.
The King called again for a harsh punishment. The wisdom goddess tallied the votes, exactly on half. "Split down the middle, Lord Zeus," she spoke confidently. "It is up to your word." There was an even number without Dionysus. Zeus did not typically vote.
"I declare," he paused, "I declare a restriction."
"What?" chorused through the hall.
"He will have one glass, a single glass, each month. And will be able to drink to an excess during special occasions including the Solstices and Equinoxes." Many other gods, like Ares, frowned at this statement. Ariadne smiled so brightly it rivaled Apollo's. "And," he enunciated, "Dionysus will be able to live, once again, on Olympus with his wife, Ariadne." Cheers rang through the hall. "But," Zeus said, "you will keep your post as Director of Camp Half-blood. Forever." Dionysus smiled slightly. "Unchain him," he declared finally.
Dionysus ran to hug his wife, kiss her desperately, and whispered in her ear, "I love you."