Near towards the city of Xios lies a village called Remos, and here dwelt a woman named Alina whose beauty was so great that every noble vied and fought for attention, until at last, Salipides, being a great landowner from among the Boresi, was granted her hand in marriage by her father, Olychis. Now, one day Almighty Xios himself, chief among the gods and greater than the sum of all, was casting an idle eye upon the city that bore his name, his restless eyes drifting about the lands around, when he chanced to view upon Alina in her wedding preparations and being dressed by her maids, and in doing so he desired her instantly. And so it came to pass that as Alina settled down for her last night in her fathers house, the night before her wedding day itself, her maids all slumbered on the floor about, that Xios crept it disguised as a low cloud and then enwrapped himself about her sleeping body. Seducing her in a dream, and penetrating her in her bed, great Xios then departed and left her with the seed of his child.
The following day Alina awoke and remembered the dream, but in trepidation of spoiling the nuptial revelry she assented to tell her tale to no one, not even her maids, and especially not to Salipides, and the wedding ceremony passed of with great joy among the two conjoining families. As the couple settled down in one of Salipides' manors, Alina's belly grew larger, as as the months passed she gave birth to a boy that she called Eremychus.
Now, Salipides had a brother named Taleminis who had plotted to kill the king of the city of Xios, being Emithos, he himself a general and a usurper of the previous ruler. King Emithos soon found out about the conspiracy and so sent poison, all disguised within a bottle of sweetest honey, to the household of every man he then suspected. Taleminis himself fed the whole to his family on bread, and they all perished for the iniquities of the father. When the same was sent to the household of Salipides, it was his wife Alina who took charge of the gift, her husband being out hunting, and bearing this seeming prize and being unselfish as a mother, she fed the whole of the poisoned honey to her new born son Eremychus. Eremychus, being born of the Great God Xios, was thus immortal, and the honey affected him not. Yet soon the scheme of Emithos came to be known, and when Salipides returned and heard that his wife Alina had fed poison to their son, he tore at his hair and beat her unconscious out of fear and his grief. When, however, he found his son unharmed, he marvelled and then demanded the whole story from his wife, asking why he was so unaffected when the poisoned honey had killed so many others, not least his own brother's family. And so it was that Alina admitted to her dream the night before her wedding, and her long suspicion that her child was one of Xios' offspring, and now it was proved to her without any doubt. Salipides, for his own part, was shocked, and both thankful yet mournful, for although the child lived, and was a progeny of the gods, alas it was not his own son. Praising Xios for the gift, he sacrificed the best hundred of his oxen in the name of Xios, and then begged for a son of his own to carry his own families' name. And so it was, in time, Alina became pregnant again and soon gave birth to a second boy, a wholly human child, whom was named Anithimones, and who was two years younger than his brother Eremychus.
Now, both brothers grew up loving one another very much, and it was remarked that few brothers could be closer, for although they wrestled and fought and sparred and rode, it was never malicious or done enviously so, unlike some other and more ignorant siblings. For Eremychus and Anithimones were bonded greatly, as both brothers and friends. And although Anithimones knew of his older brothers' bloodline to the gods, he neither shunned nor envied him, but treated Eremychus only as kin with a pure and true heart, and Eremychus did so likewise.
As Eremychus grew he excelled at sports and combat. At age eleven he bested the greatest charioteers in Xios, and at age thirteen he could throw a javelin further than any man known in Eptemia. And as he grew and triumphed so in all he did, Almighty Xios watched with satisfaction, and Anithimones smiled at his own efforts against his brother, declaring that only a son of Xios could best another, and thus all well was wished upon him.
And so it came to pass that as the seasons departed to return again in passing years that both Eremychus and Anithimones grew to be young men, beloved by all for their strength, honour, and good hearts. And yet all could not remain well with them.
For one day a carpenter by the name of Emenes moved into the village of Remos with his daughter, Parenna, and while visiting their maternal kin both brothers saw her and immediately fell in love with her. Where once had been no rivalry now sprung some, and ever harder at that, as both men wooed her with their words and deeds. Eremychus boasted of his blood heritage to Xios, and demonstrated his great strength, while Anithimones spoke only of her grace with high praises and demonstrated his love only with affectionate gifts. And so this went on for a year, until she was the age to marry, whereupon the father of Parenna, being a stranger in the land and with no nearby kin or other relatives aside from his only daughter, offered herself the choice between both brothers who had constantly vied for requieted love. And so it was that Parenna considered her decision, and then summoned both men so that they may receive it.
As both men arrived, and settled in her fathers house, and received his hospitality, Parenna addressed each man in turn. To Eremychus she spoke thus: "You are truly great among the men, and truly no Eptemian living is greater than you, either in your strength or prowess, nor abilities in the field, for all know that you are a son of Xios, and that you shall be a great and noble hero, remembered by all of our people."
To Anithimones she spoke thus: "You are truly also great among the Eptemians, not in terms of your strength nor your skills, which your brother far surpasses you at, but because you have a truly great and noble heart, and I have never heard of another Eptemian so compassionate and loving. Even though you have a greater brother, you despise him not, and offer him only truest friendship. Neither do you bemoan you own place, but gladly accept it and treasure all that you both have and aspire to have."
To both men now Parenna addressed them both before her father. "Therefore, I make my decision and I make it thus: I am but a simple village girl, born of simple means and kin. What I seek in life is a good husband who will be there for me, to provide good children, and protect us. But most of all, I wish him to love us all for what we are. I know that both of you are quiet capable of this, but what distinguishes you both is the blood of Xios in the older brother. And for that I can only decline his offer. Great heroes carry strife and woe like a flock of ravens, and I seek solace and shelter with my family, rather than risk exposing them to danger. Therefore my decision, as granted by my father, will be that I accept the proposal of marriage from Anithimones."
Thus Parenna made her decision, and thus in endearing the heart of one, she broke the heart of the other. For his own part, Eremychus gave what good tidings and support he could to well wish his brother, and cheered them at the wedding even though his own heart was rent within himself. And as Anithimones took Parenna to his own house by his own father's, with each day of joy that couple had, Eremychus experienced only misery.
As the first year passed, and Anithimones and Parenna celebrated their anniversary with the birth of a male child they named Paracles, Eremychus wandered from his own home into the hills and despaired aloud to his own father. "Why have you gifted me so," Eremychus called, "in that you bless me with everything excepting that which I would want? Truly you desired my mother Alina once, and I have ever desired Parenna, yet she is denied to me, even though I am of the gods. Why do you deny me this, when I have asked for nothing?"
Great Xios heard his call, and answered him as rain. "Great son of mine, it is not for men to expect that what they want shall be but granted, but only to accept that what they have, and so be satisfied, and this applies even among the gods. You ask for Parenna, yet if she were yours then your brothers' heart would be broken, and not yours. Are so such a poor soul that you would wish real harm and pain to your own kin?"
But Eremychus answered. "Although I treat Anithimones as like a brother, we all and everybody knows that he is not, for I am your son and not the son of Salipides. What I ask for is not my brother by mother hurt, but merely for mine own true pain to be lifted. Can this not be done simply by having Parenna in my arms just the once? With that accomplished I promise not to desire more, but to accept only what I had, and treasure it, and never let my brother know how I consorted with his wife. As the mightiest of the gods, can you not even grant that to your own son?"
And so Xios listened, and so he replied. "Very well. I will grant your request, but hear me well: it is not for men to ask for what they want, and have it granted as they wish, for it is never as so. And you would well remember this. Do you still wish my boon upon yourself, to have Parenna in your arms just once, and well remember it?" Almighty Xios asked, and Eremychus nodded and said that he did. And so it was that Great Xios agreed that he would relieve his son of his yearning. To this ends he then presented through the clouds a mighty javelin, crafted from the best of all woods, its point made of purest metals, sharper and harder than an eagle's talons. As Eremychus received the javelin he took it in his hands, and marvelled at the design and craftsmanship, before with a perplexed expression he asked why the gift and how would it gain Parenna for himself.
To this mighty Xios answered: "I have released a monster upon the village of Remos, one of the fallen ones summoned from the very pit of Taygettus itself. No mortal hand may slay it, only one of the gods, or its kin. You could kill it with your own sword, but the fight would be hard and you would be wounded, and not one being upon the earth would be able to heal the wounds inflicted upon your body. Therefore I offer this, a weapon of Pheiros, the god of war, for your own use to slay this creature. And when you do so, you shall hold Parenna in your arms. But beware, this is a truly powerful weapon: no mortal blade can cut you, only that crafted by the gods, even the fallen ones. Do not let this javelin fall into the hands of your enemies, for you can be killed by it. Use it only against the monster now upon the village of Remos, and you may yet dispel it. Aim straight for its heart, and the beast shall cease to be, as will the weapon, where it shall return to Pheiros' armoury, and you shall be triumphant and will have what you have begged for."
And with that the rains dispersed and Great Xios disappeared.
Eremychus, eager to grant his own wish to his heavenly father, rushed from the hillsides with his javelin, and made straight for the village of Remos, where there was a great commotion. For indeed, true to his word, Almighty Xios had sent a monster upon the settlement. Feeling pleased and feeling arrogant and haughty with his divinely crafted weapon in hand, he turned to the panicking crowds and called with a boast that he would rid the creature from upon them, whereupon he aimed and then threw his javelin at the beast's heart. But the creature was too quick, and it moved aside, and the javelin, still in flight, struck on and then through Parenna and her child, Paracles, as she fled with him from the coming danger. And as it struck through both it killed both instantly. Eremychus could only stand and watched, full horrified, at what had happened, and while the monster clambered and destroyed the dwellings of the village Eremychus could only recover himself enough to run to where she lay slain with her babe, and he held her dead body in her arms, and thus Eremychus fulfilled his wish. And as he did so, he realised this, and with tears he faced up to the sky and called out: "O, my father! O chief of the gods! Thou has tricked me! Oh, haughty Xios, would that you were not my real father, but Salipides himself, for he would never have called such a Fate upon myself as you have!"
And as he did so, the monster ceased and watched a moment, and then called to Eremychus. "Are you truly a son of Xios?"
And Eremychus answered. "Truly I am and truly am I sorrowed for it. Truly I have now just killed my brother's wife, even though I loved her dearly."
And at that moment Anithimones came running up, all armed for battle against the creature, when he too now saw his wife Parenna cradled dead in the arms of Eremychus, their dead baby Paracles beside them, and with a hurtling call of grief Anithimones slashed his own throat with his own sword, so as to immediately follow his best loved noes to the other world of Eilenion.
Upon seeing his brother take his own life also, Eremychus was truly distraught, and overcome by his sense of grief, he turned to the beast and handed it the godly javelin of Pheiros, and declared: "I once would have lived only for my brother, and later would I only have lived for his wife, but now they both lay dead, and all because I wished it so, even though it was without meaning to, for I knew not the consequences of my wish."
And the beast nodded in agreement. "I was once numbered amongst the gods. But then our kind were tricked by Xios at a meal he prepared for us, and with it, a trap, and after he had us caught he sent us reeling into the pits of Taygettus, to serve as our ever shamed imprisonment, freed only by his whimsy, and powerless by his now greater throne."
Eremychus then took hold of the javelin and stepped forward to the beast, the weapon not raised, and he passed it to the creature and said: "Then please do me this favour of killing myself. I am born of Xios, and can be killed by no mortal weapon. As it would be shameful for a god, or the kin of the gods, to take their own life, I therefore beg of you to strike me down now, and let my deceitful father deal with you in his own way now, for just as he released you, so he will imprison you as well."
And the monster took the javelin and looked at it. And then, with a claw, it swiped Eremychus terribly about the face and body with a taloned claw. And while Eremychus stood bloodied but alive, and uncertain, the beast snapped the weapon in half and then swallowed both pieces for itself. And it doing so, it mortally wounded itself.
And while it lay dying, Eremychus cried out in anguish. "What have you done, and what have you not done? Why have you struck me with your talons, but not with the javelin? Why do you let me live, while you yourself commit suicide?"
And with its final breaths the monster answered him thus: "For all my life, and all throughout my imprisonment, I have sworn vengeance on Almighty Xios for the way he displaced both myself and my kin, for our tortured imprisonment. And so I passed the curse not only to himself, but also upon his own kin. And now I will punish him through you. For by letting you live, but striking you and yet denying you death, you will be left to roam now all the world as an immortal, scarred and disfigured beyond all means of acceptance. And as you wander the earth in eternity, so will you call out your misery, and so will Xios be moved to pity as he watches his own son suffer so. Yet as you have already asked of a boon from him, you cannot ask for another. And as he is the most powerful of all the gods, so none other can dispel his own work upon you. Thus I punish the father through the son."
And with that, the monster died.
And with tears in his eyes Eremychus called out to the heavens. "Almighty Xios, what is that treachery? Why have you cursed me so?"
And so it was that Almighty Xios appeared as light a ray of light between the clouds, that spoke thus: "I have granted what you wished, and that is all."
But Eremychus answered: "But that is not what I had wished for, and you knew it!"
And now Great Xios became angry: "You are the son of the chief of the gods, and the greatest of all men alive. And yet you were not content even with that! What an ungrateful son I have who is not content to be a god upon the earth!"
Eremychus answered: "But why did you kill Parenna? And her child? And why allow my brother to kill himself? I have lost two loves, and all I treasured from my life."
Now Xios answered fully: "I did not kill Parenna, you did that yourself. I gave you a weapon, but you neither practised with it, nor measured the beast carefully enough, and thus it was your throw and your throw alone that killed Parenna. And as for your brother, he killed himself, by his own free will, to join his wife and son in Eilenion. For that is the matter of this: you have all the will to do the things you wish, and I gave you all that, as a gift. I gave all people the ability to make choices, and that is what makes all people difference from the world they inhabit. And here, in this instance, ungrateful for what you had, you wished for more. I could not give you Parenna myself, for she was a child also of Saturnyne, the silver moon, and I wished not to intrude upon her own sphere. Thus the curse that has befallen on yourself is entirely of your own making. And now you will wander through the world, in physical pain, in emotional anguish, and all for that you wished for too much! And so I will suffer as I watch you so. And all because I was not a strict enough father! And so let all in the world know of your folly, teach it in the taverns, on the benches, by the seashore, and in the homes of strangers. That way, let none repeat your ignorant mistakes, and let all know to value what they have, and not to ask for what they have not. And make all of them satisfied, for you are now an example to them. So says your father, so it has been done, and all through your own choosing. You did not know the result, true, but nor does any when making a decision. Make yourself a warning to others, and that is all I have to say to you."
And with that Almighty Xios was gone, and with that the light dimmed behind the clouds as they thickened dark upon the sky. And so it that Eremychus, once he had buried both his brother Anithimones, and his brother's wife Parenna, and their baby son Paracles, that Eremychus departed from the lands of his birth and family, a sad and wiser, and disfigured man, who even now wanders wretched in the world. And as was then, so is now, for Eremychus sits within the taverns, and upon benches, by the seashore, and within the homes of good-natured strangers, forever wandering to tell his tale, and of his curse: for he became an example of folly to all.
