Midas

<center>(text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Now, this one may not seem directly related, but it's still a story worth being [[told]]!"'']

<center><h1>The Midas Touch</h1> [[Silenus]], a teacher to Dionysus, has gone missing.<center>

Midas found him in the rose garden. The man was old, his beard a healthy grey, and he reeked of wine. He'd fallen into a bush and went right to sleep, and his snores had alerted Midas during his walk. His guards took one look at the man and scoffed. "Forgive us, King Midas," one said. "We'll //deal with// this one." But Midas shook his head, because he was wise and he recognized Silenus, and instead he ordered his guards to let the man into his palace and treat him as hospitably as they'd treat the most royal guest. And they did! When Silenus awoke, they treated him as a most welcome guest! And in return, Silenus regaled them all with stories and songs. For the next seven days and nights, this continued. At the end of the week, [[Dionysus]] appeared.

A procession of Bacchants led the god Dionysus into Midas' courtyard. Silenus finished off a goblet of wine within the castle and ambled out towards Dionysus' retinue. King Midas followed behind. "My ma-//a//-an!" Silenus said, slurring his words. "Grea-a-a-t to see //ya//! Thish place... is //rad!//" (...) (Yes, those are the exact words he used.) Dionysus smiled at Silenus, and then turned his attention towards King Midas. (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Good king,"''] he said. (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"You have done me a service today, treating my teacher as well as you have. In return, I offer to you a reward -- anything you desire!"''] King Midas thought for but a moment before he said, "I want anything I touch to turn into gold!" (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Wow,"''] Dionysus said. (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Straight for it. Fair enough!"''] And so Dionysus granted him this boon and [[took his leave]] with his retinue.

Midas took advantage of his power instantly. He grabbed hold of the nearest stone, and it turned to solid gold. He grabbed hold of a nearby twig, and it turned to solid gold. He grabbed hold of a handful of grass, and the entire handful turned to solid gold. Midas laughed with joy. He wandered into his rose garden and touched every single rose he could see, and left all of them sparkling gold. He marched into his castle and ordered his servants to set out a feast to celebrate his newfound power. In his dining hall, Midas settled into his seat and grinned as servants set out food and drink before him. Midas grabbed for some bread-- --and the bread instantly turned to gold. "Hmm," Midas said, not quite making the connection yet. He shrugged and grabbed for a goblet of wine, and both the cup and the drink turned to gold. "...Hold on," Midas said aloud. "Something doesn't seem right here." Midas tried vainly to grab food from the table, and a few minutes later he started to think that he //may// have made a [[mistake]].

Midas crossed his arms and left the dining hall. He looked to his fingertips, blessed with a boon from Dionysus. Idly, he dragged his hand against a tapestry, and the colorful cloth morphed into rigid gold. Had this been a mistake? Had his greed gone too far? The more and more he thought about it, the more this boon seemed like a curse. A curse he'd readily asked for. Midas looked to the sky. "This fucking sucks, actually," he decided. But before he could continue to ponder the philosophical and practical weight of his greed, Midas was interrupted by the appearance of his daughter. "Father!" she cried. "All of the roses in the rose garden have turned to gold! How did that even happen?!" "Oh, daughter," Midas said-- (Now, now, hold it! Postpone your jeering!) --and then Midas reached out and wrapped his daughter in a hug, and instantly she turned to [[gold]].

//"What an absolute fuck-up."// ''"He's had how much time to adjust to his new power?"'' //"Long enough, I'd argue!"// ''"Yes, well, clearly not. If only he'd had more time, he may not have fallen to this completely unavoidable mishap!"'' (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Wow! You kids have never interrupted a story before like this."''] //"This is only our third story."// (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"...Fair. Comus? Any thoughts you want to share? Consider this me calling on you."''] "I mean, the other two are right. What a mess this guy has made of this!" (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"True! Alright, enough of this, no more [[interruptions]], allow me to finish."'']

"Oh no!" Midas said. "How could I have foreseen this?!" Midas fled from his castle, towards his rose garden, and surrounded by the golden flowers he fell to his knees and clasped his hands, looking into the sky. "Oh, Dionysus!" Midas called. "Please! My request of you was foolish! Please revert this curse delivered unto me!" (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Man,"''] Dionysus said, (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"it hasn't even been a full day."''] Midas turned. Dionysus stood at the entrance to the rose garden, a goblet of wine in his hand, an amused smirk on his face. "Lord Dionysus!" Midas cried. "Please, Lord! I regret my choices! Please free me from this golden prison!" (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Sure thing, man,"''] Dionysus said. (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Go wash your greedy little hands in that river out there, Pactolus. If you do that, everything you turned into gold will revert."''] Midas leaped to his feet. "Thank you, Lord!" he said. (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"No prob, [[dude]]."'']

Midas sprinted to the river Pactolus, and as soon as he reached the river bank, he plunged his hands into the water. As he watched, gold bled from his fingertips and buried itself in the banks of the river. Midas slumped in relief as the last of the gold disappeared from his hands. With haste, he returned to his castle and ordered his guards to carry the statue that was his daughter down to the river, and his guards did so (perhaps with a little confusion.) And as they did so, the gold bled away, and Midas' daughter was returned to life. "What the fuck," one of the guards whispered. Midas embraced his daughter and wept with relief. "Oh thank Dionysus!" he cried. "I've learned my lesson, meddling in the affairs of gods! [[I'll never do such a thing again]]!"

(text-color:"#b363eb")[''"King Midas did such a thing again, but, well. It's a much less interesting story."''] "Well, //I// still want to hear it!" (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Ah, well, fine. Very simple -- because of this whole thing Midas started to focus on more humble pursuits. He learned music from [[Orpheus]]..." "...and then he fell in with the god of nature, Pan, we all know about him, and then he insulted Apollo and Apollo cursed him to have the ears of a donkey."''] ''"Is there a moral to these stories? A point?"'' //"Well, 'greed is bad,' clearly."// ''"Well, I suppose. Is that all that applicable to us? Dionysus' retinue isn't exactly known for its restraint."'' "I mean, yeah. These were nice stories! But they were just about some... guy... that barely interacted with Dionysus? I don't get it." (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Ah, you children. I'm a little disappointed, I can't lie! See, these stories all connect into one mythology. All of them are important!"''] "But-" (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Now, now! Enough talk out of you lot. Maybe you should spend less time sharing your thoughts and more time actually //thinking// about the stories, yes? Next up..."'']

(text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Heh, heh..."''] //"Why have you paused?"// ''"...Why are you laughing?"'' (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Oh, no reason! Just... mayhaps you three should remember that name..."''] "Oh! Foreshadowing!" //"The greatest Greek poets were, of course, renowned for their subtlety..."// (text-color:"#b363eb")[''"Oh, [[quiet|I'll never do such a thing again]], you."'']