The Brothers Tuerl & The Staffs of Zeus

by Bryson Strupp

  Chapter 33-The Beginning

  Once again the twins found themselves seated around Aristotle’s table, but this time the table didn’t have quite the same feel as it once did. Now it had a unique sadness about it. Its simple yet ornate beauty perhaps lay in that fact.

  “Alright, my sons, let me say for starters that I am extremely happy to see you both healthy, and do not be at all ashamed about entering the Water Tower. It is a feat that few of those who came before you accomplished. It is the sacred duty of every descendant of Perseus to pass on how to enter the tower to their own descendants, so eventually I would have told you, but it should be even more gratifying to you to know you did it all by yourself.”

  “Well… Not completely by ourselves.”

  “Ha! Right you are Irgen, but still…”

  “Anyway shall we continue with the prophecy? You said you heard some of it right. So how much have you heard?”

  “Ummmm. Mom told us the story about Alecto and told us the first, um, part of the prophecy, I guess.” He looked doubtfully at Idus.

  “The first part, hmmm, well I guess I will pick up right there. You see at the time Apollo gave Alecto the prophecy, he did not think the rest of it was imperative or important for them to know, so he didn’t give it to Alecto.”

  “Let’s start right there shall we? Now I’m sure you remember that during Alecto’s talk with Apollo, Poseidon sat patiently down on the rocks below waiting for them to finish. Eventually, they did and Alecto went down to Poseidon; where he found a positively gleeful god waiting to congratulate him on his fabulously wonderful performance.”

  “Alecto had succeeded at the task he was given and as such Poseidon felt he was bound to him in some way, so he took him to his own abode, far beneath the sea, where he taught him how to use his new powers. It also seems that during their time together Alecto and Poseidon formed a father-son relationship; one of hope for one another’s success and a strong unbreakable friendship for one another. Before Alecto left, Poseidon took him aside and showed him one more key thing, the thing which has allowed mages everywhere to continue practicing magic. He taught Alecto how to make magical artifacts such as a staff or how to enchant swords, etc.”

  “This is an art few mages know but we all rely on, because few, if any, since the time of Alecto have been able to get in contact with any of the immortals. Since the birth of our order, they seem to have withdrawn from, at the very least, prominently viewing and meddling in the affairs of mortals, but they have placed clues as to where they may be found. I will tell you more about that later on in your training, for it will be you, not I or any other mage for that matter, who will find them.” He cleared his throat, though the twins thought he had already made the point perfectly clear.

  “Now let’s return to Alecto. As soon as he returned to his father he found all of the other brothers had returned and were displaying their magnificent powers; it seems all three of them were conjurers, but they were extremely powerful ones at that. I give it as my humble opinion, that indeed they did not need to become mages, I think they had enough control over each of their element to make it become almost anything they wanted it to be, but of course that is just my opinion.

  Now you will remember the first part of the prophecy said they would rule in peace for a while, and they did. Their father was overjoyed with their exploits. They were the apple of Mycenae; everyone knew them and wanted to be like them. It was during this time that the fundamental clans were created. The brothers had such control over their element that they could give anyone that element if they so desired. Many flocked to the fold of conjuring and during this time Alecto taught his brothers how to create staffs for their followers.

  It was the golden age of magic per say. There were no conflicts, and no strife, everyone was happy with how things were going, and all of the brothers ruled their clans peacefully under the leadership of their father. Great cities were built for each of the clans; each was given a unique name. For water the city was the great city of Atlantis, for fire Menoeceus, for earth Petros, and finally for air Boanerges.

  The clans blossomed and the brothers found that they needed to regulate the population of the clans. The clans were getting too large to control, and more than that they found that children born to conjurers became conjurers themselves. It was fine in the beginning, but as time went on problems arose. You see children back then could be born into a different clan than their parents. At first this wasn’t a problem, but as time went by attitudes changed.

  As the children grew up, rifts developed in many families. Youth who turned sixteen chose to be with their clans instead of their families, of course they would visit each other often, but it was the choice which angered people. Many parents who had given up everything for a life of magic would not allow their own children the same choice. They banned them from joining with the clan, which by their sheer personality, they were destined to join. Parents came to the brothers to ask them to change their children’s element, but the brothers could not revoke something which had already been given, and fearing giving someone too much power, they could not just bestow another element to them as a gift.

  The brothers came together and they decided that for some odd reason this was the way it was supposed to be and they stood by their decision. They decided the element was supposed to choose, not the family, they tried to tell their angry followers that they must just in the end get along, but as happens so often with mortals, our own pride gets in the way, and in the end it led to the downfall of the true order of magic.

  So finally after many years of murmuring among the clans; the brothers decided a great council should be held. They invited the most prominent and powerful members of their clans, and after many ill-spoken words, it was agreed that the brothers would make a magical pact. A pact of such deep magic, that it could only be revoked when the time was right. The great magic that they invoked in the ceremony prevented anyone from ever having a child outside of their element.

  Curses were put on marriages of two people of different clans. Striking the woman bare, preventing her from ever bearing children. It is the same curse that should have worked on your mother, but something strange happened, and you two were born. All the signs point to the fact that you have been foreordained to lay the very deepest of magic bare, but it is still your choice; we will talk about that in a moment.

  But one thing needs to be said, after the great council, both Irgen and Idus became angry with the outcome. It seems from this moment on, they gave up on the goodness of mages as a whole. Embittered by the lack of unity among mages they began to keep to themselves. For hours they brooded together over some plan they were about to set in motion.

  About this time, Perseus fell deathly ill and even after a few rare visits from the gods, it was found that nothing could be done for him. He passed away, and perhaps the welding link between the brothers broke with him, and after it broke, the clans fell apart as well. They began to keep to themselves; visitations and trade between the once neighborly and brotherly cities stopped, and in the end animosity grew between what became vying clans.

  The brothers felt the strain as well, but they held one last secret meeting, a meeting few know about. In it Irgen and Idus presented a plan that called for a reuniting of the clans and the taking away of the deep magic set forth. They planned to force people to accept the original order of allowing the elements to choose which clan people were to belong to, but through their desire to do well, they would take away every man, woman, and child’s right: the right to choose.

  At the time, Alecto thought the plan would be the only way to bring peace and unity back into the hearts of mages, but Apollo’s warning echoed in Alecto’s head, and he knew he must refuse. He knew something was wrong with the brothers’ plan, something they weren’t telling him. Alecto saw this and refused to unite with his brothers’ plan. Xenophon, who was the youngest, and who had proven to be the wisest br
other, did the same knowing his older brothers too well, and Irgen and Idus stormed out of the meeting, furiously making vows to not stop until they controlled the clans, and in the dark of night, they headed for Delphi. The golden age of peace was over. It was time to prepare for war.

  They reached the ancient temple, and upon entering it, a great thundering voice shook the walls of the temple. It told them about what you have heard already, and then it added:

  “Then one day, when the artifacts of the gods will once again be wielded, two brothers shall arise and restore peace to the hearts of men and gods alike.”

  That is the end of the prophecy, something not even Apollo could foresee.” His eyes glinted in the faint glow in the room.

  “Dad I don’t understand, I thought the prophecy said Perseus would be slaughtered by his sons, not just die peacefully in his bed.”

  “Aha, you’re right! Indeed it turns out Perseus did not die peacefully. It happened just as Apollo said it would. Irgen and Idus had asked their father to allow them to use force to create “peace” in the clans, but their father refused, so the brothers did the one thing they thought would allow them to bring “peace”. They poisoned their father in small doses as though giving him medicine. It is not a simple thing to not become healthy after a god tries to heal you; no, you need to be continuously and painstakingly poisoned.”

  “THEY KILLED THEIR OWN FATHER!” Idus said in a highly shocked voice.

  “Yes I’m afraid they did, and during their last meeting together, Alecto remembered the prophecy, after years of it being pushed into the back of his mind. It suddenly shone forth in all its splendor. Quickly he went and checked for links to his brothers’ treachery on the death of his father. He went to the city of Menoeceus and there he found hidden in his brother’s room a vial of strained Hemlock, the very same poison used to kill Socrates later on in Greek history---”

  “---Hey speaking of cities, did you say Atlantis?” Idus asked as he remembered his earlier question.

  “Yes I did.” Once again he did not appear at all perturbed at being interrupted, “Atlantis was and still is the great city of Water conjurers. Spartans know about it because it was from their ranks that the brothers recruited to create the first conjurers. They were allowed free and unrestrained entrance into the city, for many of their friends became magic, but when the brothers stopped allowing people into the clans, the Spartans went ballistic. They grew angry upon hearing they could not be magic. It is always the same old stuff, magic will fix everything, and my life will finally be complete, and I’ll be happy. I take it that you two, who have only known about magic for a few days, know that it is not that easy. Indeed it is a burden that many wish they did not have to bear, but it cannot be. This is our lot in life.

  The Spartans did not understand this, so being the imperfect mortals they were, they set in motion one of the biggest blunders in the history of the world. They attacked Atlantis. At first they came upon the peaceful city at unawares and they managed to slaughter a few innocent bystanders, but the mages rallied quickly and turned the tide in the battle. The Spartans stood no chance against our form of warfare. They were almost all massacred. Few ever returned to tell the tale.

  Of course after the massacre the mages knew they could no longer live like this, at least, in open view of the Spartans, so they set to work casting a series of spells on Atlantis, and the other cities and they disappeared from the face of the earth. In time history passed from fact to legend, and by the time Pluto wrote about Atlantis, few believed in the now very faint tale of the once great city. It’s ironic to note; however, that one of Plato’s pupils was Aristotle. The truth of Atlantis was, for many years, staring him right in the face, but he never noticed. It is also ironic to notice that the Greeks never forgot Perseus, the man turned hero who did so much good for the world, but they forgot Atlantis, and their own tragic mistake.” He paused, “Any more questions before I continue?” Asked André patiently.

  “Just one, father, why were the cities named like they were?”

  “Hmmm. That is an interesting question. For the city of Water, Alecto went and asked Poseidon what it should be named. He decided it should reflect its creator Alecto so he chose a name starting with A. Why he named it Atlantis, I am not sure, but it is a good name and it has stuck. The other three were not so lucky to have a god to consult, so they looked to whatever source they could.”

  “Irgen chose Menoeceus because it was the name of a prince of Thebes, who was said to be descended from the seed of a dragon. Irgen, who always valued deeds done for glory, chose the name because at a time of war, Thebes found herself surrounded, and the oracle said that if one of the “sown men” would sacrifice themselves, the city would be saved. Menoeceus did just that by jumping off the highest point in the wall, and whatever he did worked, because the besieging army was driven off, and the city was saved.

  As for Boanerges no one truly knows the origin of the word, but Idus chose it because it meant sons of thunder, a befitting name for a powerful son of thunder like Idus.

  And finally the wisest brother chose perhaps the simplest name. Xenophon chose Petros because it was a form of the word rock in Greek. He decided Petra was already taken. It was a simple name but perhaps the most befitting of earth conjurers, and even now today, it still stands firm just like a rock.

  Well if we’re done with the questions we’ll continue with the story shall we? Alright, so after the brothers heard about the prophecy they automatically assumed they were the ones to bring peace to the clans. They returned back to their cities and they began happily preparing for war, but Alecto had other plans.

  One day he rode up to the walls of Menoeceus in what is said to have been Apollo’s chariot and demanded the brothers stand trial for their vile crime, after no one opened the gate, and no one answered his angry cries, Alecto issued a challenge to his brothers. He said it like this.” André stood up on top of the table before him, holding up his fist and suddenly a fury ripped through his body, and he spoke in a strange fiery voice. His voice rent the air with his anguishing words, the brothers could see why Irgen and Idus didn’t want to fight Alecto:

  “Brothers! Why have you committed this horrendous sin?

  Brothers! Where is your sense of honor?

  Brothers! Why do you cower behind your walls of stone?

  Brothers! How did you not expect to pay for this?

  Brothers! When did your lives become so barren?

  Brothers! I am here!

  Brothers! You will answer!

  Brothers! I give you three days to confess!

  And then Brothers! I will not stop, I will not rest, until you answer for your crime against my father!

  Brothers! Confess, or my armies will break your walls, we will smash your armaments and we-will-not-stop until you pay for your crime against my father!

  Brothers! Blood Traitors are no brothers of mine!”

  André stopped and slowly sat back down wiping the sweat from his forehead. “And with that Alecto rode off in his chariot of fire. Perhaps you can now see what has created such a lasting war. Anger pulses through all of us at the mention of one of the brothers’ names.

  We have been taught to hate, and as such the war that began with the founding brothers, continues today. In our many years of existence as mages, we have had many brilliant fellows in our midst, but none of them has ever managed to find a way to stop the endless and seemingly useless conflict. It seems hate is stronger than reason.” He sighed and sank back into his chair, exhausted not by his speech but by the frustration created by man.