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I heard that he’ll rip out your throat if you even try to sing a chord.
I heard he’ll do that just by talking next to him.
Come on, for Apollo? That’s too tame. I heard that if you say anything to him at all, he’ll rip out your tongue and eat your still beating heart!
Does he really?
My cousin’s friend’s aunt’s halfbrother’s son’s 5th cousin said it was true!
Why did we even join these revelries if there’s a chance that he’ll be here!
For the wine, duh!
I sighed and swirled my kylix in my hand, watching as the purple wine caught the slight light emitting from my body. I looked normal, I looked the same that I did a week ago, so why did I look so monstrous to myself now. I know I did not kill Marsyas, I know I am innocent, so why does it look like my reflection is that of a beast that my children should slay. I numbly drank a bit of my wine, watching with saddening eyes as the Satyrs looked at me with fear and shaking frames. I turned to them, opening my mouth to speak, to say what, I did not know. They screamed, knocking over one another all running deeper in the woods begging me not to flay them. I stared in the direction they ran as all the other satyrs and creatures all inched back away from me as if I had done something wrong. I glared at one Satyr who received money from betting one of the loud ones would wretch my ire and teleported away to a waterfall nearby.
I reached my hand into the stream at the bottom, swirling it around as my knees slightly dug into the shallow pebbles and water, arcing over my thighs. I tried to look at myself once again, but all I found was good ol’ young Apollo staring back at me. I stared even harder as my reflection shifted, I became older, more like my father. I had stubble, my cheek bones were sharper, my hair cut short and curled at my neck, my shoulders were broader and had more muscles, my thighs were thicker and my hands and feet were bigger. The fish that was nibbling on my finger choked on the now bigger size as I gently pulled it off and dropped it back in the water as it swam away.
“Well, I must say, this is mildly disturbing to watch.”
I snapped my gaze over to my left and groaned. Dionysus plucked the fish out of the water, holding it as it squirmed in his hand. I plucked it out of his hand and threw it up stream as it swam away as quickly as possible. Dionysus pouted and scooted closer to me.
“The idea of you as an adult…is honestly terrifying,”
“It’ll happen one day anyway.” I said annoyed leaning backwards and falling fully into the shallow pond. “In…like, 7,000, 8,000 years?”
“Well that’s a long time, isn’t it?”
“For mortals maybe, it passes by in a blink of an eye for a god.”
Dionysus paused observing me wordlessly, “Didn’t you only know Hyacinthus for 4 months. Just imagine the time that it takes you to become an adult as 21,000 years, or 24,000 years.”
“The drunk can do math, what a shock.”
Dionysus slapped my shoulder, “I’m not drunk right now all mighty ‘God of Knowledge’.”
I huffed and looked into my reflection again, at least, I was before Dionysus appeared directly in it. “Don’t take what those guys said to heart, man.”
“What, that I’m a monster who eats hearts? That I’m a terrifying being who knows no order or semblance of sanity that enjoys the suffering of others I deem lesser than me?”
“Yeah, those. Just ignore ‘em and flay them late-”
“SHUT UP!” I didn’t realize how angry and sad I was until I lost my cool and yelled. My skin grew with a brilliant fire, the river underneath us bubbled and evaporated, the trees in a thousand foot radius flew backwards. The winds blew from me like an epicenter as birds and bugs squawked and ran, some were lucky and were blasted away, others turned to dust on the spot. Dionysus, however, only flew back 50 feet or so, but mostly out of surprise. As the blast fizzled out, Dionysus raised his head.
“Oh…ok this is deeper, isn’t it?”
I burst into tears.
“Oh, ok, uh, yeah, uh…calm down little fella?”
I cried harder.
After a few moments of awkwardly standing there, Dionysus crept forward, placing a gentle hand on my arm. I grabbed him by the waist and pulled him closer to me, changing my form once again to my younger, more accurate version, and crying into his shoulder. He awkwardly patted my back gently.
“I-I didn’t do it I swear! I just…I hate it when I’m the standard people always try to compare themselves too! As if I was just…just born with the ability to do all the musical stuff that I do! I just…I just wanted people to stop! So…I made it look-” I let out a particularly loud sob, “Look like I flayed him! He’s alive and well, I swear!”
“I’m not a monster! I’m not!”
Dionysus sighed and pulled me closer.
“I know you're not.”