Arcadia's Iron Feathers

Sixth Story of History of the Twelve, previous Story The Construction of Elis

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Now how about how you joined, Stymphalos?" Thoth asked.

"My past doesn't matter." Stymphalos replied, he had started pacing again.

"I'll make sure you get a cell with a window." Thoth offered. Stymphalos froze mid-stride and looked at Thoth, his eyes wide.

"Are you serious? You're not just saying that to get me to talk?" Stymphalos asked. "Bah, not like it matters if you're lying or not. Even if I tell you my past, there's no guarentee that the Magic Council will take my request seriously."

"I will personally make sure that you get a cell with a window, and I will personally escort you to it." Thoth said firmly. After a few moments of silence and staring Stymphalos sighed.

"Fine," he said. "I was born in the country of Enca, on the smallest island, in a town called Arcadia. The map won't show it, but there are several woods, and my hometown was on the edge of a lake. Well, they called it a 'lake' but it was more like a swamp."

Stymphalos stopped talking, his face clearly filled with nostalgia of the open country he had called home.

"How'd you come to meet Cerberus and join The Dodekathlon?" Thoth prompted, bringing Stymphalos back to the present.

"Right, right, I was driven out of Arcadia after my Iron Feather Magic became active." Stymphalos said. "You see, in Arcadia and I'm sure the rest of Enca, believe in a rather blood thirsty god and sacrifice a child to him annually."

"Why a child?" Thoth interrupted.

"Children are supposedly pure." Stymphalos replied. "Anyways, I was selected to the the year's sacrifice. They tied me to an altar, and I was thrashing and panicking. 'I don't want to die!' was the only thing running through my mind, and as the priest brought the blade down to end my life, my Iron Feather Cloud surrounded me and sliced the priest's hand and the knife to ribbons. The Iron Feather's also cut the rope that they had bound me with and I got off of the altar. The priest insisted that I was some sort of demon and had the town chase me out. One thing he said really scared me and everyone else."

"What did he say?" Thoth asked after Stymphalos stopped speaking again.

"The priest kept screaming 'Drive the boy out! Kill him! If he doesn't die then our God will descend upon use and satiate his thirst for blood by killing us all!' I kept running and climbed high into the tallest tree in the woods surrounding the lake." Stymphalos replied, the fear from the experience returning to his face and voice. "I hid up there for two days, no one found me. Then I heard the sound of screams coming from the town. I snuck back down the tree and crept back towards Arcadia. That's when I first saw Cerberus using his Take Over."

"Which Take Over?" Thoth asked.

"Second Stage." Stymphalos answered. "That's when I understood why everyone was screaming and panicking, they all thought that the priest's warning had come true. Cerberus, in that form, resembled the blood thirsty god they had been sacrificing children to. The priest then saw me and screamed in rage. He ran towards me, planning to kill me in hopes that it would make Cerberus go away. Again my Iron Feather Cloud encircled me and the priest died, being torn to shreds by the feathers. I kept the cloud up for as long as I could, listening to the sounds of Arcadia being destroyed. When the screams finally died away I let the spell end. What I saw was Cerberus standing infront of me, still in his Second Stage, and I just sat there staring."

"Why didn't he kill you?" Thoth asked, then he heard what he had said and quickly restated his question. "I mean, why didn't he kill you like he had killed the rest of Arcadia?"

"I asked him that too." Stymphalos said. "Cerberus replied that he had tried a couple of times, but my Feathers had protected me. Then he offered to let me travel with him. I thought about it for a little bit and decided that traveling with what seemed to me as the physical manifestation of the god I had been taught to fear my entire life couldn't be the worst fate for me. I said yes and Cerberus said good, then he returned to his human form."

"You know he wasn't that god that the people of Arcadia had worshiped, right?" Thoth asked. Stymphalos shrugged.

"At the time, no, I honestly thought he was that god for a while." Stymphalos answered. "But as time went by I did realize that he was no god, he was worse. He was a blood thirst man with a goal to destroy the world. But, hey, I had already agreed to travel with him, and now my hands are as blood stained as his and the others that it doesn't really matter if I thought he was a god or not."

"You know," Thoth began. "With what you've just told me, I may be able to get the Magic Council to ease your sentence."

Stymphalos shook his head, still pacing nervously.

"No, I willingly killed people, just like the others. I'm as guilty as they are." Stymphalos replied. "Now, I believe you need to go and ask Bull questions."

"Right," Thoth said sadly. Only half through with the histories of The Dodekathlon and he was feeling remorse for the lives lead into the darkness by one man who had once been a part of House of Life. As he limped away he said over his shoulder. "I promise to get you into that cell with a window."

"Thanks." was the quiet reply as Stymphalos' pacing continued.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Continued in The Cretan Juggernaut