Part 2: Chapter 6

Ariadne

While the revelry was still going on strongly, I distanced from it and kept to myself in my sleeping tent, trying to do some needlework to keep me distracted from my bothersome and worrisome thoughts. When I was younger, I always did needlework to keep me distracted and busy, and the habit still stuck to me even until now.

I was about to complete my stitching of an intricate flower design when my husband suddenly passed through the entrance flaps and entered the tent.

"Dion!" I exclaimed his name in a sudden wave of surprise and relief, flinging the cloth in my hands away to wherever on the floor as I scrambled onto my feet to approach him.

Cupping his face with both my hands, I asked in a rush, "Why did you leave without telling me? I was so worried about you. What happened in Mount Olympus? Why were you suddenly called there?"

I was so filled with the sudden want to know, with so many questions starting to pop up in my mind. But Dionysus did not answer to any of my questions. Instead, he gently gripped my arms and, looking at me right in the eye, said, "I need you to listen to what I have to say to you. I am going to tell you things that I have not been telling you; things that I had kept a secret from you. But I need you to not ask anything while I speak. Do you understand, Ariadne?"

It was the alarm at the heavily serious tone of his voice that made me seal my lips. I immediately deduced that there was something – a great something – that was troubling him immensely, telling from the signs of doubt, anxiety, fear and frustration that crowded in his dark hazel eyes.

Keeping silent, I nodded my head, giving him my silence and consent to allow him to speak without interruption.

The minutes passed on as we both sat on our sleeping mats and Dionysus started telling me all that he had hidden from me.

He told me of the actions of hubris that Perseus – who I knew, from tales, was the great and legendary slayer of the fearsome and horrifying gorgon Medusa and the ferocious and deadly sea monster Cetus, the husband of Princess Andromeda of Aethiopia, who he had saved from Cetus that had initially received her as a sacrifice, and the current King of Argos – had committed towards him by banning his rituals and practices and proclaimed that he was not a true god. Dionysus admitted to me that he had placed a curse of madness upon the women of Argos, and it had proven to be very effective. But his actions had brought trouble upon the other Olympians, who had ordered his presence for the council meeting that was held earlier on to decide what must be done to curb this problem. And he told me that Perseus had declared war upon him, and that Athena had advised him to limit it to a sole duel between him and the demigod.

Finally, he told me that he had to leave for Argos to face Perseus.

When he had finished his words, I still remained silent, absorbing in every single thing that he had just confessed to me about.

So many emotions were running through me at this very moment. To name a few were confusion, disbelief, anger, outrage, denial and frustration; all mixed up together into a heaviness that was anchoring my heart. I absolutely could not believe all that Dionysus had just admitted to me; not because I did not think it was true – there was no doubt that it was indeed true – but because I could not believe that he had kept a secret from me.

"Please say something…" he whispered anxiously after a few moments of silence had passed. "Anything… Please…"

Taking a deep breath and blinking away my bouts of confusion, I maintained a steady voice as I questioned him, "Why did you not tell me about this sooner? Why did you have to keep it a secret from me?"

Dionysus bowed his head in shame, his dark locks of hair falling over his eyes. "I did not think that it would have become this serious," he quietly admitted to me. "I did not foresee it to become a bigger problem from the beginning. I thought that it would pass fleetingly. That was why I decided that it was not that important of an issue to inform you."

Hearing that made the anger I felt start to heat up, causing me to exclaim in frustration, "This is serious, Dionysus! Somebody dared to threaten you, and you placed a curse upon his people. And now you are in trouble with the rest of the Olympians and are told to engage Perseus in combat!"

I breathed in deep, rapid breaths when I finished, feeling the frantic beating of my heart in my chest. My eyes were starting to sting and water, due to the frustration and anger that was building up within me.

"This is not something you should have kept from me," I exclaimed breathlessly, feeling all sense of calm leaving me. "Now I am here, overwhelmed at the news that you had brought to my ears. You best be lucky that I did not have a panic attack, or else!"

Dionysus looked at me with guilty eyes, which he shut when it seemed that he could no longer bear to look at me. As if that was not enough, he turned his head to the side, averting the direction of his face away from me.

And it was then he whispered in a quiet voice, "I am so sorry, Ariadne…"

Hearing the shame and guilt that was heavy in his voice seemed to have changed something in me, for I found that I could no longer be angry at him.

Yes, I still was not happy at the fact that he did not tell me anything, but I mostly felt pitiful because he had to take part in a fight that he did not choose to want in the first place. The situation had clearly gotten out of his control, and now he was once again forced into combat despite still recovering from the battle of the Indians from just a week ago.

Sighing, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his slightly larger frame, holding him in a gentle embrace. His own arms were quick to wrap around me just as gently.

Turning my head so that my lips touched his ear, I whispered, "I'm going with you to Argos."

My words affected him like the shock of a lightning bolt, and he immediately pulled away to look at me with wide eyes. "No, Ariadne," he told me in a quavering voice. "I do not want you to involve yourself in this. This is not your fight; it is mine. This is the consequence that only I must face."

I immediately frowned at his excuse, not liking the words that he had chosen to say. I made sure that the disapproval I felt was clear on my face, and I was successful. Dionysus immediately ceased anything more, but continued to look at me questioningly.

I brought my hand to trace my fingertips against his cheek, feeling how soft and silky his skin was. I could feel my frown slowly disappear, knowing that I cannot have such a look at a time when he clearly needed my support.

Letting out another heavy sigh, I told him, "I am your wife, Dionysus. We share together in everything, including burdens. Whatever are your burdens are mine too. And we are bound together by Fate, and we had sworn, to always be there for each other. I am only upholding my vows as your wife, and I am not willing to leave your side when you are about to face something like this. I want to be there for you. I want to be by your side, and help you in any way that I can."

In silence, Dionysus lifted his hand to place it over mine that was cupping his cheek. Immediately, the warmth of the soft velvety skins of both his hand and his cheek enveloped my hand, and I could not help but let out a sigh of content at the feel.

He then pulled his hand away to wrap his arms around me once again, pulling me back into another embrace. His arms tightened gently around my frame, pressing me softly to his strong and warm chest. My own hands traveled upwards to grip onto his built shoulders, wanting to clutch me to him as well.

"Whatever it is, I'm here for you, alright?" I told him reassuringly with a small smile that I was able to manage. "I will always be here for you, my love."

I could feel his breath on the side of my neck with his pressing into my hair. In a muffled voice, he whispered, "Thank you so much, my dear wife… Thank you so much…"

I responded by turning my head to his side and giving a kiss to his cheek, to show him that I really would hold to my words.

Dionysus

From where I stood on the top of the dais, I took in deep and heavy breaths of air, listening to the loud roar of outrage and anger that rippled through my thiasus after they had heard what I told them.

In unison, all of them shouted in complete and utter rage of Perseus' insolence and chanted that he should be killed for his crimes against me. If I had been one of them, I would have easily agreed with all of them without hesitation.

But despite the fact that Athena's plan did not actually say whether I could or could not kill Perseus in our duel, I knew by logic that I shouldn't. That was because I was still bearing in mind that Perseus was one of Zeus' favorite demigod sons, since he made his name known throughout the mortal lands by performing great feats and being a hero. Even if I killed him without a damn (something that Ares might probably do, considering that he does not give a single damn to any of our father's other children – myself included), Zeus would probably have my head for it.

So, I swore to myself that I would leave the demigod alive, but I will make sure that he suffered complete humility once I was done with him.

Sucking in another deep breath, I shouted in firm anger at the top of my voice, "My loyal followers! I will not let this insolence of a half-blood go on! I will show him that I am not as false as he believes! And I will show him what it happens when he dares to insult me! I will engage him in combat, and reign victorious! This, I swear!"

Everyone cheered together, chanting my name loudly as a show of support. Some raised their glasses full of wine and other sorts of alcohol to me as they sang of me going into battle against Perseus and emerging victorious.

Wanting to reward them for their show of support, I called for wine to be continuously pouring, which insinuated a cry of ecstasy and excitement coursing through them.

At my command, wine started pouring once again, and everyone drank deeply to fuel their body that had blood coursing rapidly through their veins because of the ambiance of the revelry and the certain thought that I will take down Perseus and prove myself.

A Maenad handed my own chalice of rich dark red wine, and I immediately drank fervently, feeling stray trails of the delicious drink spilling from the corners of my lips and dropping from the point of my chin to my tunic or the dais below my feet. When I had emptied the chalice of its content in one go, I pulled away the cup from my lips and raised it high, as a show of confidence and determination.

But while my ears were listening to the screams and cries of excitement and the repeated unified chants of my name, my eyes slid to the side to look at Ariadne, who was standing a few feet to the side of me on the dais.

Unlike the others, she was not as lively or as outraged. Instead, she was simply standing in silence with her arms crossed loosely in front of her chest, her grey-green eyes looking at me with a mix of concern, worry, anxiety, and fear.

I could feel my heart skipping a beat as the same emotions started running through me as well.

Perseus

I stared at the young blond and green-eyed god who was standing in front of my throne of which I sat upon. Meanwhile, my mind was slowly processing the words that he had just said to me; a message that certainly shook me.

"Do you jest, Hermes?" I questioned, my gaze on him unwavering.

Hermes maintained the look of neutral nonchalance on his beautiful facial features as he calmly replied, "Why, pray tell, would you think I am jesting, when I had clearly just said that I had come here, standing before you and relaying you the message, upon the orders of great Zeus?"

Letting out a breath that I did not realize I had been holding in, I commented skeptically, "So Dionysus is brave to accept my challenge. Huh. I thought he would be too busy getting drunk and psychotic to even realize that I had intended to engage him in combat."

A look passed over Hermes' face for a short second; a fleeting look of annoyance or irritation of such. But he maintained his calm composure immediately before it could fully come into light, and simply replied, "Like the other gods, Dionysus' ears are very sharp to listen to those who speak insult of him. These sorts of things are clear to him, even in a drunken state."

"Hmm…" I hummed in disbelief, not truly believing that a god like him would do such a thing. I doubt he was even competent enough.

Curious, I questioned Hermes, "Why would he decide upon a simple duel instead of the war that I had originally intended? Was he afraid that he would not win? Or was he too cowardly to face me with an army behind me? After all, he proved his cowardice from deciding to cast his curse upon my land from afar, and not having the guts to confront me first."

Hermes, who had so far been serious and neutral, suddenly frowned in clear disapproval, and the corners of his lips tugged down.

"I advise you, Perseus; do not speak of such foolishness," he reprimanded me calmly, but with an undertone of anger and irritation in his voice. "You may have won Zeus' favor as his son by slaying Medusa and Cetus, but you will most certainly not get away from his wrath if you dare to insult one of his true divine sons, especially if the son in question was an Olympian."

Hearing the tone of annoyance in his voice was what made me stop, having realized that I may have overstepped my boundaries. But I only stopped out of respect, and I had no guilt when speaking those words for Dionysus.

Standing up from my throne, I said neutrally, "Very well, brother."

I knew very well that divine beings who were the children of Zeus were not fond of being associated as siblings with his half-blood children such as me. In fact, I had a feeling that they absolutely resent it, considering how many several half-bloods there were which were born of Zeus' seed. Hermes, for one, was not the type to be bothered by such ministrations, but I knew that he too does not refer to me as a half-brother.

Ignoring the skeptical raise of his perfectly-arched brow, I inquired, "When will it take place? And where will it be? If it is a duel, then I would want to have a very good fight with him."

"I do not know when," Hermes replied. "And I do not know where."

"Then how will I know?" I asked as I felt a frown forming on my features.

Hermes quietly turned away, starting to walk back the way he came in. But with each step he took away from me, he replied without turning, "You will know when the time comes. Just keep your senses sharp, and prepare yourself beforehand. Other than that, I wish you luck, Perseus."

The god then silently walked through the translucent silk curtains that adorned the arch entryway of the throne room, and the air of magic and divine aura slowly started to disappear as he did.

Now alone in my throne room, I took a deep breath, experiencing many rushing thoughts that started to plague my mind. In the midst of my thoughts, I walked to the side of the huge and empty room, where several tall archways in the stone wall acted as windows that showed the courtyard of the palace.

Looking out, bracing my hands flat upon the balustrade, I could see that the entire courtyard was full of my people who were taken in as refugees. Scattered in small groups, I could see their solemn and unhappy faces that were laced with dread and fear. All of them were escaping the deadly clutches of the women who were the victims of the blasted Dionysus' curse.

Outside the strong and mighty barrier that surrounded the entire palace ground, I could hear the faint sounds of the maddened shrieks, screams and laughter of the cursed women, who were chanting words I did not understand as they stalked through the torn and ruined town area, prowling for a kill because they were maddened with a sadistic and sick desire to kill every living thing they saw.

How could that god do such a thing to people who had been innocent?

Out of spite?

Utterly pathetic.

Heaving a sigh, I willed myself to turn away and walk out of my throne room, feeling that the silence of the solitude was becoming a bit too much for me to bear.

I walked slowly through the empty corridors that were dimly lit by the torches of fire that were built to the wall, listening to the very faint and small noise of the soles of my sandals against the floor. Only that was my companion as I walked up the flight of stairs to the level of the palace that housed my private rooms. But other than the noise that I was making, the sounds of the crazed women far outside the inner regions of the palace seem to enter the quiet corridors and made an eerie faint echo.

After a short while of walking, I finally reached the doors to my bedchambers. Being as quiet as a mouse to not make any noise, I carefully opened the door and let myself into the room before shutting it again.

After taking off my sandals and abandoning them where I left them on the floor, I padded over to the bed and climbed in under the sheets. But instead of lying down and drifting off to sleep, I moved even more until I finally rested next to the comfortable figure that was already sleeping.

She may have not been asleep or must have not been asleep for long, because she turned to face me when I pressed my body gently against hers.

"Perseus," she asked quietly in the darkness of our bedchambers. "What's wrong?"

Even in the darkness of the room that only had the light of the moon that streamed in from the opening of the balcony, I could nearly make out the blue eyes of Andromeda, my wife and queen. I could feel her gaze boring into mine, looking at me with thoughtful concern as according to the tone of her sweet voice.

I felt her hand atop of one of mine, and I then moved so that I was the one holding hers. She shuffled closer to me, until our chests were touching and her head was tucked comfortably under my chin.

With her lips touching the curve of my neck, she asked in concern, "You seem distracted. What's bothering you? Has something gone on?"

I did not answer her, still too wrapped up about my thoughts of my conversation with Hermes.

Andromeda must have felt that in me, for she suddenly moved her arms to embrace me and tilted her head up to press a soft kiss to my lips before she whispered, "Whatever it is, I'm here for you, alright? I will always be here for you, my love."

I breathed in the scent of her sweet reddish-brown curls, sighing when I did. Just the scent of her hair comforted me, relieving me slightly of the qualms I felt inside.

All in all, just having Andromeda with me was enough for me to gain strength in all that I do. If it had not been for her firm support, care and love, I do not think I would have been able to rule Argos alone. She was my beacon of light, and the sole giver of hope in my eyes. She was the most beautiful, glorious, loveliest and perfect woman for me; the only woman for me.

I don't know what I would have done without her.

Author's Note:

Alas, dear readers, the haze that plagues my country has gotten from bad to worse.

People are already starting to fall ill from the excessive smoke that lingers in the air. Yours truly was such a case, to the point where I had to be sent to a doctor because I was not able to breathe properly due to lack of clean oxygen. It was scary when I remembered the moment when I felt so suffocated. I'm fine now; thankfully, I was not that serious. But still, it sucks knowing that I was unable to stay strong against the smoke. Apparently, the farmers in Indonesia are not willing to stop burning trees down because they state reason that they need more land and burning trees was the only solution. They're refusing to stop until they get enough, so I do not know how long this haze would be around. I'm not really pissed at them, but I just wished they thought of better solutions :(

So anyway, enough of my sap story.

Introducing Dionysus' current enemy, Perseus! Now, I imagine Perseus to look like his Clash/ Wrath of the Titans counterpart, so I would say he looks exactly like Sam Worthington (though I would base his looks on Perseus from Clash of the Titans, with the buzz cut). As you can see - or read - here, Perseus absolutely loves Andromeda. In fact, in real Greek Mythology, Andromeda was said to be his only lady love. And Perseus, in my opinion, is a pretty decent demigod hero, who still has morals and values in him.

Anyway, kudos to those of you who realize that Andromeda's last words were the same last words as Ariadne's. I want to show how Ariadne and Andromeda were both loving wives to their husbands, and who their said husbands are thankful for having. This, if you would want to know, would be quite a big deal in a future chapter.

So, hoping I am still alright by then, see you on Monday!

Muse of Fanfiction