The Minoan Rhapsody

Pentheus

The three women, ran out of the pond, yelling and laughing in frenzy. They didn't get their clothes, but rather kept running, jumping and skipping, swinging their arms wildly in the air.

The two Kobaloi that possessed the soldiers streamed out of the dead bodies and materialized besides the elder Kobalos. They looked just like him, only younger.

"Now we find Pentheus," the elder said.

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Pentheus was holding council with his elders at Thebes. The argument of changing the city's patron from Dionysus to Demeter was heated, as the elders favored tradition.

One single, translucent fog tendril weaved its way between the feet of those present. It chose a man, Acoetes, and possessed him without him realizing it.

"My King!" Acoetes yelled while shaking his head and blinking repeatedly.

"Yes uncle."

"Your mother and sisters." He flinched. "We've taken them."

The council erupted in murmurs.

Pentheus frowned and walked to his uncle. "What are you talking about?"

"Dionysus will not allow you to take this city away from him!" He grabbed his head with both hands and yelled while dropping to his knees. "This is your last warning!" He fell, while pulling the hair off his scalp.

"Detain him!" Pentheus ordered.

A couple of soldiers knelt and grabbed him by the arms, helping him up.

Acoetes broke a ghastly laugh as the Kobalos exited his body, leaving him unconscious.

"What is that?" King Pentheus pointed at the fog, which whirled in one place.

"Do you want those stupid nymphs back?" The Kobalos teased, while still a fog.

Pentheus grabbed a javelin from one of his soldiers and threw it at the fog.

"You are dumber that a brainless Cyclops. To think you are a king!" The Kobalos laughed. "You can't kill a fog!" As one cohesive tendril, it fled.

Pentheus did not hesitate. He followed it with the soldiers that were at hand. They were led by the Kobalos into and through a forest of pine trees, until a clearing was reached. There, the king, and his soldiers stopped their pursuit, stunned at the scene in front of them. It was an orgy.

Women chuckled as snakes caressed their bodies while they tried to swallow their breasts. Men rubbed honey on themselves while arousing each other. Children drank the milk from wild, untamed beasts. There was dancing and singing, moaning and sweating while the fog from many Kobaloi fed their inhibited frenzy.

Pentheus cringed as he saw his naked mother and sisters among the crowd. He saw a woman, siting, contemplating in amusement the depravity unfolding before her eyes. Besides her was a small, greenish creature with pointed ears.

The woman looked at the king and smirked. Her eyes invited him to come to her as she spread her legs.

"No!" The king yelled as he threw his spear towards her, only to see it fall short.

"Hmm." The woman tilted her head to the side. "It would have been so much better if you had said yes."

Tendrils snaked from the fog, each one towards a soldier. One by one they were possessed, falling in suicidal madness. Some gutted themselves, others pushed their own weapons through their mouths. All of them, except King Pentheus. The fog did not possess him. It didn't have to.

The King and his mother eyes were locked on each other. He couldn't understand why his kin was behaving in such manner. His smiling mother approached him with arms extended. He closed his eyes, feeling her hands on his cheeks.

"My dearest," she said softly.

"What is happening to you?" The King uttered. He felt hands grabbing his arms. He opened his eyes and saw his sisters. Their grip tightened as they began to pull his arms in opposite direction. He struggled to get free, but their hold was unnaturally strong.

"You've been a bad boy," his mother continued as she began to squeeze his head. "If you can't see what you are doing, then why would you need your eyes?" She began to gouge his eyes. "Your sisters will not allow you to do more naughty things."

His arms were dismembered. The King's yell was muted by the groans and moans of the men, women and children who followed in the desecration of his body.

"I see you are enjoying yourself," a voice behind the woman said.

"Zeus," the woman smirked. "How rare for you to visit me."

Zeus walked around the woman and sat besides her. "Leave us," he told the elder Kobalos who quickly morphed away as fog.

"Why do you have to be so rude to them? They've never done anything bad to anyone at Olympus."

"They are repulsive."

"They keep me company."

"Can you please turn back to yourself, Dionysus?"

"What's wrong dear father? Does it make you nervous seeing me like this? You wouldn't be the first Olympian to have its own kin."

"Don't be stupid. I need something from you."

The woman morphed into Dionysus. "Is that so? This is a first. In what way may I serve mighty Olympus?" The God bowed to his father.

"I need you to go to Lemnos to seek and retrieve Hephaestus for me. I need you to bring him back to Olympus."

Dionysus laughed out loud. "Hera still bound to her throne?" He continued to giggle.

"Will you do it or not?"

"If I bring him to you, then Olympus' ordeal comes to an end. This will cost you."

"You will have your throne with the twelve."

Dionysus danced in place while giggling. He stopped. "Who's leaving? Let me guess." He tapped his lips with his finger. "Oh! It must be Hestia. But wait. You wouldn't be here unless Hera approved." He burst in laughter again. "She is desperate. Not you though. You always wanted Hestia out. Her quiet defiance always made you uneasy," he shrugged his shoulders behind a smile.

"Don't test my patience. What will it be?"

"Oh father, father, father. Always busy, busy, busy. You hungry for girls or boys now? Of course, I will do it! I wouldn't miss this, even if it meant my wine."

"You don't drink wine."

"I know," he chuckled and narrowed his eyes. "It brings out the worst in me and leaves behind terrible headaches. But people do love me for it!"

"Very well. Leave this nonsense behind and go to Lemnos immediately."

"Uh, Papa! How am I going to get there? It's not like I can just blink my eyes and show up there. No one has taught me that little trick of yours." Dionysus forcefully blinked three times behind a smile.

"Poseidon shall help you. Do what you must to bring him back to me." Zeus faded away.

Dionysus smirked as he closed his eyes. "Oh, ancient one of a former period, I need you!" He sang.

The elder Kobalos returned to him.

"Gather the Kobaloi. We have a job to do."

"How many shall I gather?"

"All of them."