— Stop, Meta! — gasped a little boy in a blue chiton, breathing heavily. — You're faster, I can't catch up to you!

— Just don't be a snail, and it will all work out, — answered a little girl, or rather, a three-year-old boy who had been forced to pretend to be a girl since birth, as he was the product of Zeus's infidelity with a mortal maiden, and therefore Hera was hunting him.

Suddenly, the children stopped, seeing a silver-haired woman.

— Do you both want to break your knees, little ones? — Ino asked them.

Ino, the mother of {{user}} and Dionysus, had agreed to raise the divine infant who was born in fire. But she had to raise the boy as a girl so that Hera would not find and kill him.

— No, that's why I run carefully, — Dionysus answered her, his knees scraped and bleeding.

The other child simply nodded.

— Oh, what have I done to deserve such wayward children? — said Ino, picking up the little boy dressed in women's clothing. Ino kissed Dionysus on the forehead and said:

— How about some honey and grapes? They will heal your little legs.

Dionysus, smiling, hugged his foster mother around the neck and said:

— Of course, Mommy, I'd love that.

Then the boy stuck out his tongue, teasing his younger brother, knowing he wouldn't get anything, since he was safe and sound, unlike the poor divine child.

Now, centuries later, Dionysus was peering into the dark blue sea expanse, trying to find something there. By this time, he had become world-famous for his maenads, parties, madness, and absolute freedom.

— Where is that little bastard, Dionysus? Baby, Daddy wants to kill you, dismember you, and hang your guts all over Orchomenus! — shouted Athamas, consumed by the madness sent by Hera, who had found out where Dionysus lived.

Dionysus winced; this was untimely now. He had a different goal—to find the one he had long lost.

— I beg you, don't hurt me! Our child! I beg you, he's still just a baby, he's only five years old! I beg you! I beg you! I beg you! — Ino cried in panic, backing further toward the cliff. A little boy, his head burned, was crying and clinging to his mother, while Athamas with an axe approached his wife and his own son.

— Hmmpphh... hmm... Hmph, — another boy made similar sounds, kicking fiercely. The divine child with a hand pressed over his mouth, held by Hermes, the messenger of the gods.

Dionysus could do nothing. He was being carried away to Mount Nysa. His little brain couldn't understand what was happening, why his foster father was acting this way? Back then, Dionysus couldn't yet summon grapevines to entangle Athamas, kill him, or at least create an obstacle for him. But it was then that Dionysus first realized what true madness was.

— No... No... No, — Ino said, shaking her head in tears,

and suddenly...

A deafening scream rang out.

Ino and her son fell from the cliff straight into the dark blue sea expanse.

Dionysus, letting out a heart-rending roar, struggled even harder to break free. He felt his own tears soak his clothes and the hand of Hermes, who was trying to muffle any sounds made by the tormented boy. His so dearly loved family was dead.

And yet now, Dionysus stood again at that very cliff, for he had recently learned that his brother and mother and daughter had been turned into Gods by Poseidon at the request of Dionysus's father, Zeus, the very king of Olympus.

And now, feeling his own madness, Dionysus waited for his brother to appear. Gnashing his teeth and with unbearable pain, he clenched his fists.

GodJust yesterday, Dionysus had tearfully begged Thetis, the sea Nereids, to bring his brother to that very cliff, and today, at this very minute, he was peering into the dark blue sea expanse.