This chapter is the first one that aims to expand a bit of lore for things that have as of yet no official explanation. I guess you could consider it our first lesson in History of Magic combined with a bit of Magical Creatures. I'm doing my best to be very deliberate in how I'm building things. As of right now, every detail matters, let's see who's Ravenclaw enough to piece it all together before it goes down.
P.S. the world is Rowlings but the stories I tell... I guess I have a teensy claim on them
Chapter 4 - Gods and Men
The next morning's lesson began quite similarly with the Priestess magically eliminating all the day's chores. However, today, Maxximus was up a little earlier due to his impromptu early bedtime, courtesy of the supercharged phoenix song, and managed to witness the closing magical acts his mother displayed.
"Mama! That's awesome! Am I learning magic today? Maybe I could've helped yesterday. What happened yesterday? I think the phoenixes sang me to sleep. Why were they so far from the oasis? What happened yesterday?" He rambled.
"Maxximus! How can I tell you if you keep asking questions? Are you prepared to listen?" She scolds gently. An eager nod as the answer.
As she recounts yesterday's events, not one to keep hidden what he'll hear from others anyway, her son's eyes widen fearfully at the mention of the injured Builder's Clan. He dutifully maintains his silence however, until the story concludes.
"Mama, I have a question."
"Yes Habibi?"
"So, I know the phoenixes can calm us with their singing. But you taught me before that they can also heal with their tears. Why didn't you make them heal the builder boys? Now they won't be able to build the house until they get better." A good question posed from a still innocent mind.
"Firstly Maxximus, no one can make a phoenix do anything. They listened to me because they wanted to sing for the village. Not because I asked. Next, even the birds understand that to cure everything would be doing more harm to us than good." The boy's bright eyes lay hooded by a furrowed brow as the Priestess continues.
"Imagine we could never get hurt or sick, how would we behave? Our actions would carry no meaningful consequences. People would engage in risky scenarios, emboldened by the ultimate healing they would receive. Phoenixes understand that it is through death that we understand life, through pain that we grow and learn. They immolate themselves to be born anew do they not? It is not for us to know when they believe us worthy of healing. It is on this topic that yesterday's lesson was supposed to enlighten. Where was I before I had to leave?"
Knowing his mom was about to go into teacher mode, he brought some snacks and a vase of water to the table and took his seat.
"You mentioned the Greek Limpians, Mama."
"O-lympians Habibi, yes. Long ago three brothers, all magical, roamed Greece. The youngest of them, Zeus, loved watching the stars as you or I might on warm summer nights. But one night, on his birthday, instead of gazing at his favourite specs of lights in the heavens, was greeted with the fiercest storm, lightning casting fierce scars across his cherished sky. An otherwise inconsequential event, but not for young Zeus. Something changed in him that night as he vowed to seek power to control the weather. He spent decades studying the natural world. Some say he corrupted some phoenixes to create the first thunderbirds in the process. It was only in his twilight years did he finally achieve what he desired. His instrument for magic, the bone of a seventh-generation thunderbird imbued with lightning over a fortnight. Commonly referred to as Zeus' Lightning Bolt. With it, his desperate mission realized, but without the time to enjoy it.
Meanwhile, the second brother Poseidon, frequently swam in the Mediterranean, absolutely enthralled with the beasts found within them. Ever inquisitive he began to experiment with attempting to imbue some with magic. Some experiments went awry while some bore the fruits of some of the magical creatures you'll meet someday. He could've been considered the first aquatic Magizoologist. One day however, while tending to his flock of magical creatures, he heard a terrible wailing that could only be a magical creature in pain, rushed towards it. What he saw there brought him to a terrible wrath. A beached female hippocampus, with a beautiful blue coat that took on a purplish gradient as it faded to red into the tail, was braying something awful as its lifeblood ebbed away from a dozen puncture wounds. The culprits, a group of local fishermen equipped with triple pronged spears, were eager to try some, at the time, exotic meat. To Poseidon, this was akin to losing a child and he returned the grievance tenfold. He had cursed the men and their families to live in the sea and help him protect his creations forever. Thus began the merfolk. It is likely that even they do not remember their origins as those men would've wished to bury how they brought on their eternal curse. After laying the hippocampus to rest he picked up the largest of the triple pronged spear, soaked through in the blood of his magical creature and enchanted it. Binding the blood to the wood, the new trident was now coated in copper and served as his own magical conduit.
Now, while these two brothers already began twisting magic in ways that had not yet been done. It is the last brother, the oldest, who was the most dangerous. Hades, for that was his name, was not one for spectacular feats and he only wished to study every aspect of the natural world, magical and mundane. In this, he was aware of how all things interacted with one another. It was only when he met with his brothers and that they began boasting about their achievements did the elder Hades start building resentment. He had become determined to outlive them both and contribute to letting their fame die with them. He then began experimenting on everything and anything, hungry to find the cure for death. He had become a Master Enchanter, Potioneer and Alchemist in the process, reinforced with his vast knowledge of the workings of the world. Finally, through some ritual lost to time, he succeeded. He had produced a tree possessing a bounty of fruit, that when consumed, granted eternal life. However, knowing his brothers would come after his creation, the fruit was blood red and hard as stone. Only he knew the recipe to turn it into food and drink for his consumption. He called it Ambrosia and Nectar. This concoction was so potent that it did not simply stave off death but stopped the aging process entirely.
The next time the family gathered, Hades found his brothers accompanied by exceedingly beautiful wives already carrying children in their bellies. Except this time, it was they who were jealous. Many years had passed and now Hades was certainly looking the youngest. What happens next is lost to history, but we know that at some point, Zeus and Poseidon had condemned Hades to continue to care for his Tree of Life and produce the Nectar and Ambrosia but this time, he was forced to share. Not only with his brothers but with their wives and children. This allowed the Olympian family to grow in power and influence as they were all accomplished magicals with the luxury of time to hone their craft. It was not long before others began to notice these immortals with impossible abilities roaming their lands. These men, women and children had now been promoted to godhood by the people. Tales of conquest and victory replacing their true history. The Olympians, drunk from worship, began demanding more and more of the people, playing with the insignificant lives of those bound by mortality. Terrible wars waged in their names, catastrophic consequences for those who rebelled. Zeus with his total control of the heavens would smite any he deemed unworthy, and some more just for fun. Poseidon, keen on defending his creations, would shipwreck many boats that traveled his waters..." After the long tale, not yet complete, the Priestess notices her son's expression change and pauses for a moment.
"We will take a pause here Maxximus, while we eat dinner, I urge you to reflect on the dangers of immortality and those who seek it."
Dinner that day was quiet for the mother was tired and the son deep in thought. They ate their grilled fish and fresh bread slowly, with busy minds evoking an atmosphere of thoughts filling the air like smoke from a covered flame. Only when dinner had been concluded and all the dishes cleaned and put away did Maxximus speak up for the first time since the story began.
"You didn't ask the phoenixes to heal anyone because they would've felt invincible. Invincible people do not fear the repercussions of their actions. The Olympians were immortal and developed a cruelty towards the mortal. What happened to them? Surely if they were still around, we would know about them." His words were spilled clinically, betraying the acceptance that his peaceful oasis life was not all there was, and that people were hurting and he could not help them. His mother, saddened at the rapid maturity of the boy under the circumstances, could not be comforted by the necessity of the situation and continued her lesson.
"They could not be overpowered, they had centuries of knowledge that budding magicals at the time could only dream of. They ruled uncontested for centuries, shaping the world to their will. The Olympians were not the only ones, even here in Egypt a sect grew. Proficient in soul magic, a clan of magicals perfected eternal life through the changing of one's mortal vessel. In the far North, a similar family, The Aesir, could brew their own cups of immortality. Gods, for that is the only way to describe them, were popping up and causing chaos everywhere on Earth and they needed to be stopped. Magic depended on it. See Maxximus, Magic needs us as we need it. It chooses vessels to spread its work, but these gods prevented that with their extreme warmongering, killing magicals and non-magicals alike. Sometimes even their own kin.
That is when a new group began to form, a group determined to restore balance to magic, our forebears joined with other ancient families and passed down knowledge through the generations and eventually, through courage, determination, cleverness and cunning, managed to push them back. The Egyptian Gods were forced to tie themselves to mortals and eventually died out due to inbreeding. The Aesir were pushed back into a now hidden kingdom of Asgard. The Olympians proved particularly stubborn and took on new personalities and governed early Italy before ultimately being confined to Mount Olympus, named for them. Zeus, more cunning than most, forced the concession from our organization that should anyone venture to the mountain top, the Olympians could do as they wished to them. This means that every so often an extremely powerful individual, blessed with Greek magic, will descend from Mount Olympus in an attempt to reestablish Olympian Rule. These and all others who seek immortality are our charge to stop. This we do for the sake of Magic and as the last of the Sphinkus clan." Finally reaching the conclusion of her lesson, she takes a breath and sinks into her seat from exhaustion.
"How can I stop these people Mama, I don't know the first thing about magic." Maxximus states dejectedly.
"You will learn Habibi, learn from everything. Remember, you are a Sphinkus, you are born for this." This she says with pride and by nuzzling her son to her chest, messing up his hair.
"For now, Maxximus, focus on reaching harmony within your soul, that will be your greatest strength. Remember, life is only precious because it ends, we must accept that death comes for us all before we can truly be prepared to live. The Gods never understood this and still fear death to this day. That does not mean to go and find ways to die however! As long as you are at peace, your soul will not want to leave for its next great adventure but remain anchored as you continue to enjoy the beauties of the world. It is only calamity, hatred and unrest that disturb the soul. If you remember this Maxximus you will likely live until a ripe old age and your purpose on this earth fulfilled. This is my dream for you, my son." Her son slowly dozing off in her arms from the heavy lessons of the day mutters incoherently of Gods and Men.
Meanwhile, another boy is eagerly awaiting the day he gets to go to his new school with his new friend. A beautiful snowy owl resting on his shoulder in a room where his family pretends he doesn't exist.