Chapter Text
The hall was large and almost every god in the realm was present, this was the good-bye party of sorts for Narcissus, who was being banished to the mortal realm for the foreseeable future. The loud cackles of Yidhra echoed the hall above all other sounds as she mocked the young god.
“Oh shut it will you?!” Narcissus snapped, only making her laugh harder.
“I can’t believe they finally decided to send you off to rehab!” She said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“It isn’t rehab,” Narcissus said in an aggravated tone “I’m being sent to the mortal plain, which is far worse than rehab.”
“The mortal realm isn’t so bad,” Yidhra said, slithering around Narcissus “it’s where all your followers are after all.” Narcissus only scoffed in response.
“You need to be more grateful for your followers, Narcissus.” Hastur said with a sigh as he approached the two.
“Narcissus doesn’t know how to be grateful” Yidhra giggled before taking a drink from a nearby table.
“This isn’t a permanent arrangement, you’ll return to us one day.” Hastur said, attempting to comfort Narcissus but all he got in response was a glare.
“Or maybe you’ll be there forever!” Yidhra said, poking Narcissus with the end of her tail as she began cackling once again.
Soon the time came for Narcissus to leave, he said his farewells to the few friends he had and was sent off the mortal plain.
He found himself in a mortal disguise, a painter by the name of Edgar Valden, he was a member of a wealthy foreign household and was travelling to the city of Oletus for business, at least that’s what he told anyone who asked. He knew about Oletus, of course he did, he knew everything there was to know about this land, it was his afterall. But he had never expected it to be so disgusting.
The dirt clung to his shoes, the icy wind thrashed in his face, making a mess of his beautifully groomed hair. He’s a god, for fucks sake! Nature should be grovelling at his feet, not tainting him with filth!!
“How dare you!” he barked at the ground as he kicked the newly grown grass.
‘’Hey!! What the hell are you doing??!’’ said the creature's new found voice, though the voice sounded rather distant.
Edgar scoffed, ‘’How dare you disrespect me, of all people. I’ll have you banished from this earth.’’, he crossed his arms and glared at the grass.
Edgar felt a light tap on his shoulder, he quickly spun around to see who dared to touch him, “Did you hit your head or something? A young farm girl said in a concerned yet stern tone “You know you’re just yelling at a patch of potatoes, right?”
Edgar had heard of potatoes of course, he was a god of this realm and knew everything about it. He straightened his clothing and turned to properly look at the young woman who’d spoken, she was wearing a simple sun hat that she held onto so it wouldn’t fly away in the wind, her other hand was on her hip. She seemed both upset and slightly concerned for Edgar.
“Of course I knew!” Edgar said, offended that she dared to assume he wasn’t aware of something so plainly obvious, which he wasn’t. But he’d never admit to that.
“Uh huh” the girl said, looking at Edgar as though he were mad.
“Do you perhaps know the whereabouts of a nearby inn?” Edgar asked “It’s getting late and I have to travel quite a lot tomorrow. I'm on a business trip to ‘the Cat’s Shadow’, I assume you’ve heard of it? The popular pub in Oletus? Either way, I have yet to find somewhere to stay the night.”
‘’The closest inn is a few hours away.” she said, motioning in the direction of the nearby town with her free hand “Since it's getting late you likely wouldn’t get there before dark. I can see if you could stay the night at the farm. I can’t guarantee it’ll be like what you’re used to. But it’s cosy!’
Between sleeping outside and in a cosy farm, the choice was obvious. “Alright,” Edgar said, peering at the large farmhouse behind the girl.
“Follow me!” she said, leading Edgar toward the farm “My name’s Emma by the way,” she added as they approached the doorway. Edgar was only paying attention to half of what she said as he was busy praying for the downfall of his fellow gods, who’d put him in this situation.
The girl held the door open for Edgar, who was now looking around the hallway. It was packed with portraits of people he assumed to be the girl’s family, bookshelves were filled with books, various trinkets and other decorations. What stood out most to Edgar was an altar to one of his fellow gods, with offerings placed in a small dish.
“So this is where you live?” Edgar said, poking around one of the bookshelves “It’s very.. Cramped” he had been surprised by how small the space was in comparison to the size of the building itself.
‘Yep! This house has been in my family for generations, as well as the decorations.” She said, adjusting the placement of a delicate looking vase.
“..Okay.” Edgar said, not wanting to go any further into that subject.
“Emma dear, is that you?” a voice called from the next room over.
‘’Yup, it’s me in the flesh. And, I brought company!’’ She, who he now recalled was named Emma, said in a sing-songy tone.
A tall, well built man emerged from the doorway. He wore a yellow shirt with some simple black overalls, he had brown hair and a kind expression on his face.
“Who’s your new friend? I don’t think I recognise him.” the man asked, seeming unbothered by the stranger in his home, like it was a normal occurrence for him.
‘’Now that I think I about it I don’t think I got your name, Sorry for not asking earlier!’’ She said frantically bowing her head a little to show the sincerity of her apology.
‘’My name 's Narci- Valden, Edgar Valden. Pleased to make your acquaintance.’’ He said, almost telling them his true name. Telling any mortals of his true nature was unwise and would likely only lead to him being seen as weird.
‘’Th’ names Leo Beck. No need to be so formal” Leo said with a chuckle “I’ve just finished making dinner, how’d you like to join us?”
‘’Oh, no. I’ll be fine’’ Edgar said, he had no need for such things and he didn’t enjoy the act of eating and drinking like some other gods did either.
‘’C’mon, dad makes enough to feed an entire army. No need to think we’re wasting food on you!” Emma said, unaware that Edgar truly didn’t need to eat “It’ll only end up going to waste if you don’t have some!” she continued before pulling Edgar into the kitchen.
Leaving no room for argument the odd, yet endearing pair took off to the kitchen, Edgar following behind.
The kitchen was small, but cosy. There was a small table for 4 at the centre of the left side and the kitchen sink, kitchen cabinet and oven were at the right. It wasn’t anything like the dining hall he was used to but he supposed it would do.
Edgar sat at the table, across from Emma and next to Leo. The table was rather small but it had enough room to fit their plates and a small vase with a single wilting flower in the centre. Leo placed a serving of minced pie onto each of their plates and he and Emma quickly began digging in, finishing their portions before Edgar could even bring himself to lift his fork to his mouth.
“What’s wrong?” Emma asked as Leo picked up both their plates “You haven’t eaten at all.”
“I’m really not hungry.” Edgar insisted, prodding at the slice of pie on his plate. Edgar had never really eaten anything before, let alone something with such a texture.
“Would you like another slice dear?” Leo asked from the counter as he placed another slice of pie onto his plate.
“Yes please!” Emma called as she inspected the drooping flower in the vase.
“Eat up boy!” Leo said in a hearty tone as he placed his and Emma’s plates on the table before sitting down again.
“Very well,” Edgar mumbled under his breath, inspecting the chunk of pie on his fork before sheepishly putting it in his mouth and swallowing it whole. Edgar choked on the food, coughing a little as Emma handed him a glass of water.
“You have to chew you know.” She said with a giggle as Edgar chugged the water, some of it dripping down his chin.
“Of course I know that.” Edgar said, frustrated by the whole procedure of eating. He took another chunk of pie with the fork and scooped it into his mouth, taking his time to chew on it this time. Chewing was an odd action, turning the food that had taken so much time to create into mush. What a waste of effort.
In the higher realm Gods had no need to eat or drink, some like Yidhra may enjoy partaking in the act however Narcissus had always found it disgusting. Eating was just another meaningless chore mortals had to do to keep themselves alive.
Once the three had finished eating Edgar was led into a spare room, it was small and rather barren but it was better than the cramped halls he’d been led through. The quilt on the bed was cold and itchy and the sounds of crickets chirping outside filled the room. Edgar's first day in the mortal realm was rather miserable. He had to walk for hours in horrible winds, was forced to eat food and now he was restlessly fidgeting in an uncomfortable bed. In the higher realm the weather was always pleasant, he’d never had to eat anything and he had a large bed with a delicate silk quilt
Edgar stared out the window beside his bed, the sky was cloudy and the trees outside were thrashing the wind. He was sure his walk to Oletus in the morning was not going to be a pleasant one, he just hoped it wouldn’t rain.
True to his word, Edgar took off for Oletus the next morning. But soon after as he was seen off by Emma and Leo he felt small droplets of rain begin to land on his head, he pulled his barrett to cover more of his hair but it didn’t do much once the rain began to pick up.
He cursed under his breath. Too far in to go back, and too far to get to Oletus in under 40 minutes; he took refuge under a tree nearby the road. Time passed by before he heard a carriage approach and a voice speak out to him.
‘’Young man, are you alright?, You’ve been sitting there for quite a while.’’ He looked up to see a man, around the same age as him, a bit taller. He was wearing casual clothing but looked athletic. He seemed to be very flexible, he must be some kind of acrobat, he deduced.
Edgar hummed ‘’I am waiting for the rain to pass.’’ he said, keeping it short. He didn’t want to converse any more than he had to.
‘’Are you perhaps on your way to Oletus? I could give you a lift,”’ Edgar looked surprised for a second as the man continued ‘’It would be a lot faster, and you wouldn’t have to deal with this rain.’’
The man held his arm out for Edgar to grab onto, which he did. After being hoisted onto the carriage. After a quick thank you Edgar slipped into the back, there were around 8 other people in this section of the carriage. Edgar just quietly sat in the cramped carriage, keeping to himself
At the end of the ride the man said, ‘’If you have some free time, you could come down to the circus, it’s in a week, this was the last carriage going there. So you’re lucky you caught us!’’ he laughed before adding “It’s only 10 silver for a ticket.”
‘’I’ll see.” Edgar replied, not intending to take up the man’s offer “Do you know the way to The Cat’s Shadow?’’ His good friend, who often took trips to the mortal realm, highly praised it for its good drinks and comfortable atmosphere. The comfortable bedding they offered their patrons would be much more suitable for Edgar as well.
‘’Shouldn’t be too far, just head straight and you’ll start seeing signs pointing to the right direction,’’ he said pointing ahead of him before continuing‘’It’s popular with quite a lot of regulars, I’m looking to visit it myself during our stay.’’
Edgar nodded as he waved the man off, heading towards the direction he pointed out. After heading straight for another 10 minutes he started seeing road signs pointing toward the supposed direction of The Cat’s Shadow.