"You have made it, I congratulate you, yet I do not see the grapes. Where are they?" Dionysus asked. Jareth stepped up, away from his silent companions, and with another quiet pop, the sack appeared in his hand. Dionysus raised a brow, yet did not ask. He reached into the bag, withdrawing a single grape, and tucked the sack into his belt. He disappeared only for a moment before reappearing in Ariadne's cage. He caught her chin swiftly and gently, ignoring the blows she rained down upon him. Softly he parted her lips and brought the grape to hover above them. He watch her for just a moment before squeezing it so that the juices flowed down past her lips and down her throat. She stopped dead, convulsing for a half second before blinking heavily.
"My love, where am I?" she finally asked, voice soft as an autumn breeze. Dionysus smiled widely and there was no doubt of his happiness.
"You are in Olympos, in the mortal realm." he cooed to her sweetly.
"Did I drink too much wine and ambrosia again?" she asked playfully, touching a hand to her head, as if to see if it was sore.
"Yes, something like that. Why don't you go back home and rest, for surely you must be tired. I will be with you shortly." he suggested, bending his head to give her a single sweet and lingering kiss. She smiled and nodded, then in a ball of golden light, disappeared. Dionysus turned to the mortals again.
"I thank you all, you have done me a great service. For this I will grant you each a boon of your choosing." the god offered humbly. Those present smiled, meeting one another's eyes conspiratorially. Kyrian, unofficial second in command, stepped forward first.
"Great god of revelry, I have chosen my boon." he informed, ever the smooth talker.
"For many years, in fact since I have ceased to be a general in the great army, I have had a hollow spot inside of me. I was never able to fill it on my own. Now, I stand before you, my heart full, my destiny fulfilled and therefore ask only to be returned home." Kyrian finished with a small smile, finally meeting the god's eyes. In them a small amount of shock could be seen. However, he nodded and, in another flash of golden light, Kyrian was also gone. Will stepped forward next.
"I've not elegant words and a story to tell, but I have been wandering though time for so long that I've lost track of it. My wish too, is to be sent home." he requested, smiling as he saw the god's mirth. Another flash, one less person. Fiona, then stepped forward, eyes conveying the same thing Kyrian and Will's had. With a single nod, Dionysus sent her home as well. Jareth then stepped forward, and with one last flash, father and son were left alone.
"Ceramus my son. You have made me the proudest father in Olympus. Tell me what it is you wish. Anything you want is yours." Dionysus stepped forward, embracing his son. Ceramus flushed with pleasure.
"Father, all I have ever wanted is your approval. Now that I have it, I have nothing else to wish for." Dionysus gave his son a curious look,
"I have always been proud of you. I was proud of you when you gave your first cry of freedom coming out of your mother, I was proud when you said your first word, learned to walk, when you finished each of your pots and sculptures, when you took Elizabeta for a wife. Always have I been proud of you, even if I have not always been able to be there." Dionysus face lit up as an idea formed.
"Why then, don't you come to live with your mother and I in Olympus? Surely Zeus cannot refuse after the service you have done me and your mother. You are the offspring of a god and goddess, what better place for you is there, than among them?" Ceramus could barely contain his joy, the parents missing all his life would be present now forevermore. Nothing could be more joyous surely. So it was, that later that day, Ceramus was made immortal and ascended to live on Olympus where he lived happily with his parents and fellow Olympians.
