Chapter Text
His life at the bookstore was a simple one.
He followed his rules very closely.
There were only a handful of them, but he made sure that he kept up with his tasks.
- No infestations of any kind
- No unjustified thievery
- Lygus isn’t allowed entry
- Don’t cause explosions
- Don’t leave the store
- Enable the chase
- Make sure the ghosts don’t escape at night
- Know where everything is
- Don’t kill the
stupiddog
He only found the newest addition to the rules, which was the “don’t kill the dog” to be the irritating one. He didn’t much care for the last caretaker’s son, but he had to follow the rule regardless.
Anaxagoras found himself to be turned into a cat at some point, a fact that irritated him endlessly, but he noted the few perks that included relative immortality. Yes, he wasn’t quite as nimble without his human hands, but that wasn’t much of an issue when you can talk to the ghosts and the books that are around you. He also found that he didn’t need to eat or drink now, as he was an apparent magical cat, that was good, he didn’t care much for food.
He was happy to have time to study to his heart’s content, and make use of the dimensional gate called ‘CAT SPACE™’ by so many people that he just accepted the term.
He couldn’t talk to people who couldn’t understand him, he didn’t care much for people anyway, they just complained about his “crazy ideas” and refused to call him by his name.
It did not help that his name did not fit on the tag on his collar.
ANAXA
That’s all the weird dog’s sister could fit on the tag.
He hated it.
He didn’t mind having a collar, it didn’t have a bell, which he would have hated more than the tag that didn’t have the right name on it.
When he was in CAT SPACE™, he could assume his human form, not that he needed it often these days. Only when he got that itch to invent something or to figure out how something that a kid brought in that he had never seen before functioned.
Yes, he would steal it from the kid, but he was just a cat! The kid would get over it. He found contentment in that.
He often found himself lounging on the catwalks between the shelves that a previous owner had installed several decades back for him, and leer at any customers who came in, especially since he has somehow become a “local icon” that draws in tourists so they can meet the “grumpy bookstore cat” or whatever.
That was fine, he still had it pretty good, even with his unwanted fame.
The dog’s pink sibling opened up a small cafe in the bookstore, which was unexpected but welcome. He liked the smell of coffee and tea, but his inability to leave the store prevented him from enjoying the smells or tastes that came with it.
He would often be allowed to have a glass of catnip tea. Something completely new to him in his many years as a cat.
And it was not just addictive, it was essentially just him getting drunk without the hangover.
It was a great treat that he was excited for wherever the pink girl would make it for him.
When The Lion first entered the shop, his fur stood on end. He wasn’t near the lion when it first entered, but he definitely noticed. So he made his way to the sound of the lion’s voice as carefully as he could, hoping to not find an actual lion behind any of the shelves because he would 100% not be okay with that at this point of his life.
What he saw was not a lion, but it was a human laughing with the puppy as the puppy was giving a tour.
He sat and tilted his head, curious.
The lion was odd. The lion smelled odd.
And the lion greeted him before he noticed the approach, crouching down and saying. “Who do we have here?” The lion was smiling as Axaxa looked up at the human’s eyes.
Gold like a cat’s. “Meroroew?” BLAST IT ALL. He can’t speak! He has questions.
“That’s Anaxa, he’s Employee of the Month every month,” the dog said. “He lives here, but he doesn’t like me.”
“Groowowo” BLASTED CAT MOUTH. MY NAME IS ANAXAGORAS, YOU FOOL.
The lion laughed, as if understanding the plight. “Hello there; My name is Mydei,” the lion held out a hand to him in a bizarre attempt to shake hands.
Axaxagoras shook the lion’s hand without thinking. “Mrrorow?” OH MY TITANS WHY DID I JUST DO THAT LIKE A TRAINED MONKEY?
“You have it rough too, don’t ya’?”
The scritches under his chin came and Anaxa purred involuntarily, his eyes closing but his mind screaming.
“Ho shit Mydei, I’ve never seen anyone be able to pet that cat.” The dog said, almost snapping Anaxa out of the daze.
“I think his name is Anaxagoras, not Anaxa.” The lion seemed to say to the dog, a second hand now petting between Anaxa’s ears. He couldn’t quite make if out over his purring and shameful enjoyment of the lion’s petting him.
“Well his tag says Anaxa?”
“And my Birth Certificate says ‘female’.”
“Fair enough.” The dog wanted to join in on the petting, but as soon as he got close, Anaxa’s mind regained clarity and he swatted the dog’s hand and jumped to the top of the nearest shelf. “Jeez, rude much?” The dog held his hand in mock pain, to which the lion took it and kissed it. “I swear that cat hates me.”
The lion looked up at Anaxa where he sat atop the shelf and smiled. “It was nice meeting you, Mr. Anaxagoras.”
Such a strange creature. ‘But at least he knows my name.’ His ears twitched. ‘Wait.’ He looked back at the lion. ‘He?’
The lion looked over his shoulder again and winked at Anaxa.
‘OH.’ It dawned on Anaxa that the man had the body of a woman. The ghosts were going to make fun of him tonight for that one. He glared at the one who was already giggling over near one of the stacks of ancient periodicals. ‘I’m never going to live this one down, am I?’
Cerces, the actual owner of the bookstore, and also one of the Titans spoken of in legend, rested her elbows on the shelf next to Anaxa. Her delicate antlers intertwined with vines that melted into her long brown hair that flowed like she was perpetually under water. She glowed faintly, too.
‘Well, it is nice to see that a cat has gotten your tongue for once, Anaxagoras.’ Her voice was one without words and sounded more like rustling leaves. Her intangible nature kind of led to that feature. ‘Yes, that is Nikador’s Heir, too.’ She hummed. ‘Just like how much Kephale’s Heir annoys you, this one can see right through you,’ she laughed. The laugh sounded of sunlight passing through leaves on a warm autumn day. ‘You’ll meet the rest of them soon enough, Heir of Reason.’ She smiled at him.
‘So it’s happening?’
‘Not quite, I don’t think.’ She replied, sighing, the smell of morning dew on ferns turned into sound. ‘But it is interesting that you all gather no matter how many times you’re reborn. Lucky you’re a cat, right?’
‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.’ He flicked his tail in irritation. ‘At least I get to enjoy the trainwreck as a spectator this time.’
The sound of light rain on the grass, ‘It would seem so, dear Anaxagoras. I think, though, that this time, we don’t have to initiate the chase. I think that they should find happiness.’
He scoffed the best he could, his tail thudded against the shelf. ‘What is the purpose of this place if not to start the chase?’ Another thud of his tail.
‘I think… that there are plenty of reasons this time.’ she hummed, birdsong chirped throughout the store despite them being located in the center of a big town.
‘You are going to be the death of me.’ Anaxa scowled at the Titan.
‘You can’t die.’ If she would have had eyes, she would have looked at him. Her stare was noted nevertheless. ‘You just have yet to find love beyond your work.’
‘Mnestia can go suck a dick,’ he replied before hopping down off the shelf into CAT SPACE™, where he stretched out his human limbs and sat at his desk. “It’s not like she ever remembers me, anyway.” He leaned back in his chair and sat there for a while.
In this place he was truly alone. No one could hear his thoughts, not even the Titan who gave him his conditional immortality and granted him this bookstore as a permanent home could enter. It was always strange to go back to having only one eye upon entering the staring void, but he accepted it and eventually adapted to it. His eye had been the sacrifice for his immortality. He just wasn’t expecting immortality to include toe beans.
“If she’s here this time… maybe,” he closed his eye and thought of a time from eons passed. “Maybe she’ll remember me and be able to break this silly curse.” He looked over at the painting he had managed to get a hold of that featured her previous life. “I will kill you myself this time, bitch.” He didn’t mean it. He never meant it. He just wanted to have her acknowledge him again, with those green eyes and golden hair, and a voice like fine wine. Her presence always commanded his full attention, but he always tried to avoid the subject until it was too late for him to even tell her what she probably already knew, the cunning wench.
He shut his eye again and wanted to dream of her, but knew better than to dwell on something that was such ancient history that even historians debate what he and the Titans alone knew.
While the Heirs didn’t always look the same, they always managed to find their way to him. “I don’t get to wish anymore, do I?” He asked the void. “Giving up my heart ended up being a terrible thing, didn’t it?” He laughed and laid his head on his desk. “Wishes are for people who have hearts.” He sighed. “Wishes are for people like you, Aglaea.”
Memories of her voice lulled him to sleep.