The Familiar Tale

“Tell me, my son, have you ever heard the tales of Aris and Totle?” An old man slowly rocked his old wooden chair back and forth. He could feel the heat of a nearby fireplace warming him up, from the tips of his hair to the bottom of his toes.

On his lap lay a small child, no more than five years of age. He looked up to the old man with giant blue eyes of wonder. “I haven’t Grandpa. What is it?” his voice was filled with a childlike wonder that the old man could feel in his soul, bringing a smile to the old man’s face.

“Well once upon a time, there was a brave and noble king. While his name was unknown, he was respected all throughout the land as a beacon of courage. He was a man of modesty and truth. Despite this, he never let his pride get to him. Some people said he was the perfect king, or at least until the unthinkable happened.”

“What what! You have to tell me what happened grandpa.!”

“And so I shall.” The old man rubbed the child’s hair, making him burst out in laughter. “One day a witch came to his courant, and split him in two! Their names were Aris and Totle, the two halves of the once great king.”

“In the beginning, they ruled together. Their forces combined, they were unstoppable. If anything, the kingdom was in a better place than it was before the king became two.”

“Grandpa grandpa, why did the witch split the king in two?” The child broke the steady stream of words with his question. His childlike wonder was too much to keep inside.

“Who knows, my dear son. Anyway, when they became separated, it was revealed that while the two kings work well together, alone they could not survive.”

“A war broke out with two neighboring kingdoms, requiring each king to lead a different battle; one to the east and one to the west. Despite being split into two fronts, the King’s army had the advantage in size versus both opposing kingdoms. It was their war to win. However, that was not the case.”

“Aris’s army was the first to fall. He reveled in the fighting, a complete buffoon on the battlefield. He leads his forces onto the field himself, leading the charge without planning. He cut down foe after for, rushing rashly into every enemy he could find. His army had no plan, they just were told to fight and win.

“Aris wanted more, to fight until there was no one to kill. He was over-ambitious; wanting to win without putting thought into everything he did. Because of that, his forces got wiped in that battle. He won, but at what cost. A ten percent survival rate is not anything to be proud of. And what did Aris do after the hollow victory? He hid from his men.”

“I would never do that grandpa. I would be brave, and talk to them!”

The old man smiled. “Of course you would my son.” He loudly yawned before returning to rest.

“Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Aris was too shy to talk to his own men. Instead, running away from the battlefield, away from the carnage and death. All alone with only his thoughts to keep him company. That does things to a man. He became envious of Totle, wishing that he would have led that army, cursing the world for his lot and life. Little did he know however, but Totle was doing just as bad on his front.”

The little boy stretched and hopped down from his grandpa’s lap. Sitting down by the fire, he leaned back, eventually falling to the floor. “Where did you hear this anyway grandpa?”

“Oh, a little fairy told me some time ago.”

“Woah, thats cool” the kid jumped up from his place on the floor and grabbed the fire stoker, holding it like a sword. “I’m gonna be a fighter, just like Aris was! Not a meanie though. I’m going to be a brave knight!” He started to wave the fire stoker around like a sword.

He fought an invisible enemy, only able to be seen by those with the mind of a child. After a triumphant win vs the non-existent forces of evil, he turned towards his grandfather with a smile on his face. “See grandpa, I can be a fighter too.”

The old man clapped in applause, a smile still on his face. “Maybe that’s in your future. What did you defeat, if I may ask?”

“Uhhhhhhhh… it’s a ineedafillerscenewhyisthiswordcountsoolong.”

“Oh, that sounds very scary.”

“It is a grandpa! With sixty-nine heads and four hundred and twenty tails.”

“Oh, I’m sure. Let’s get back to Totle’s side of the story, shall we?”

The kid climbed back on the old man’s lap, getting himself situated before refocusing his wide childlike eyes on his grandfather.

“Totle was in charge of the other army, and he did worse than Airs. He started his campaign by pinning a boastful letter to the opposing army, taunting them to surrender, saying that they had no chance. It was a shameless move, taunting the enemy like that, and it backfired immensely.”

“The enemy was enraged at the letter, fired up more than they ever had been before. When Totle’s spies reported this, Totle became afraid. He was a coward you see, and a paranoid one at that. This was not a man with strong fiery ambition; he was the opposite in fact.

“Totle retreated from the planning, leaving his army without a plan. He stayed in that tent up until the beginning of the battle. Instead of leading his army into the fray like Aris, he hid, watching from a safe distance. His army was without direction, aimless as the opposing army descended onto them. With no one to lead them, they panicked at the first charge by the opponents. Not that they had a formation in the first place, but what little structure they had dissolved in a second.”

“Totle ran away from his army, abandoning them to their fate. The result of the battle unknown to Totle, he trudged back to the capital, fearing for his life.”

“Ah, I think that’s enough for tonight.” The child had started to nod off in the old man’s lap. Those words woke him up, however.

“Come on grandpa! I can stay awake, I swear!” He looked up with pleading eyes at the old man, practically begging for him to continue.

The old man pretended to thoughtfully consider his options, before coming to a conclusion. “Ok ok, fine. I’ll speed this up. Can’t have you stay up past your bedtime after all.

“Soon after Totle’s defeat, both kings returned to the capital of their country, broken and defeated. Their army was defeated, the country was broken. They had nothing left. They sat in their throne room with only each other. That was until the witch came back.”

“She appeared in the throne room one day, dressed in a black shall. The two kings ordered for her to be arrested, but no one came; their guards were dead, defeated in the battles.”

“She asked them a simple riddle: ‘I’m not good or bad, a virtue or a vice. I don’t have excess or defenencey, the middle of these all. I am what humanity desires to be, the goal of humans’ lives. What am I?’”

“And, what was the answer?” The child asked.

“Who knows. Whatever the case, the two kings got the answer correct, recombining into a single person. The witch disappeared with a blink of an eye, and then the kingdom recovered, and the King lived happily ever after. The end.”

“Awwwww. There had to be more grandpa.”

“No my son. Sadly that’s where the story ends. Now let’s get you to bed. It’s past your bedtime.” The old man picked up the kid, carrying him in his arms.

They walked through the wooden halls, the floor creaking with every step. The house was like a log cabin, one with more than twenty rooms, scattered around the long hallway. Every door leads to an unknown room, an unknown possibility just waiting to be explored.

The old man opened one of the rooms at the end of the hall, leading into what was undeniably a child’s room. Pictures of knights hung on the walls in wooden frames. A single bed with a red bedsheet was tucked away into the corner.

He laid the child onto the bed and turned towards the door. “Good night my son.”

“Hey grandpa, one question.”

“What is it?”

“In your story, the main two characters were Aris and Totle right? Well if you combine their two names, you get Aristotle. That’s your name, right Grandpa?”

“Is it? I’m afraid that I don’t really remember. There’s a lot I don’t remember these days.” He turned off the light and creaked the door closed. Before the door completely closed, however, The old man’s eye slid down into a wink.

I woke up with a start. Damn, what was that? They always said that the gods shoudnt dream, I'm starting to understand why. Whatever, the sleep was nice anyway.

Yawning, my body finished waking up as I stumbled over to my looking glass, placed on a pure white collum. There was a human down there I was really interested in. What was his name….? Oh yea, Theo.

I looked through the glass to see a truly interesting sight, Theo surrounded by a bunch of those disgusting knights. Ugh, and those guys tried to worship me, such a pain. Eh, he should be fine. Theo had my blessing after all.

Next was the other issue to deal with. The image on my looking glass shimmered, revealing a man with wings fighting a giant dragon, a stone wall hiding a girl behind them. There was something going on here, dead girls shouldbt be leaning against walls, perfectly alive. Eh, if I ignore it, the problem should go away. I just want to sleep.

I laid back on my bed, stretching out, That would be one of the other god’s issues or whatever. I was overworked, I deserve to sleep more.

I noticed a force in the looking glass right before I passed out flying, knowing that world, it was probably some old enemy. Eh, that world was locked tight, nothing would ever escape.