Heathens

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Why did it seem he always found himself in Philadelphia? It wasn't even his favorite city. He had had the pleasure of watching most of the East Coast cities rise from the ground over the years. From the first lonely settlement of Jamestown to the now sprawling metropolis of New York. He did like New York. It was busy, filled with people and possibilities. There was always something for him to do. Philadelphia, on the other hand, was just lukewarm.

At least it's not Detroit or, Helheim forbid... Anywhere in New Jersey.

The small black cat shivered at the very thought. Fjorlagg, The Lord of Death, the New God who's very name means "Death", padded along a concrete walk way, his small paws barely making a sound as he walked along. His whiskers twitched a bit and he sniffed the air. He was getting hungry. Where was he exactly. He looked around and recognized a few buildings. He couldn't miss the young ones walking all around him with their bags on their backs. Some seemed happy, others depressed, still others simply absorbed in there books.

Ah yes, college. Not quite what the Greeks had in mind, I think, but it does the job.

Continuing to follow his nose, Fjor wandered about the campus. The smell was getting stronger. It smelled like... No... Could it be? He sniffed again. Yes! It was tuna! Wonderful, wonderful tuna! Fjor absolutely hated it when his form's urges overtook him like this, butting could not be helped. He began to sprint towards the intoxicating smell.

He approached a large, square building with many windows, still following his nose, he hopped up on a window ledge and there it was. Sitting inside some young girls bag was a beautiful tuna sandwich. Fjor licked his lips. He stared at the girl as he plotted a way to get his lunch, his black tail swaying slowly back and forth.

"Dead," the girl finished the sentence, giving the girl a long look. She was looking directly at her now, a look of knowledge and wisdom upon such a young form of Rhea crossed her expression as she dropped the child-act.

"They've been dead for a long long time," she spoke with sheer honesty and without a touch of a joke to be found. She hoped this woman wouldn't go on a pity trip and prolong this, but sometimes being a child had its downsides. People always looked down on her and thought she was incapable of taking care of herself. It was infuriating, but right now she just wanted to get a move on.

"I...I have something I want to tell you, however you have to promise that you will not tell another soul. Not the police, not the college, not even your own sister if she were here," Rhea spoke up, her mannerisms changing completely from what they were moments ago. A dead serious look in her eye as she stared at Syrian. Normally she would get to know the humans a bit more, however with failure after failure came impatience.

"Promise?" she asked.

The cat shook his head and shivered the rest of his body, still shaking off the sleep and now that last comment. Formal? Was he being formal? Like an employer? He hadn't even noticed, but he supposed he was. It wouldn't be the first time. He been told a few times by the very few close friends he had that he was often a bit too much too the point. And after all, why not? He was only being practical. He needed to be, to have survived for as long as he had. And what if the taste of too many gamy field mice had soured him a tad? He was justified.

Still, perhaps he would try to loosen up in the future. He did have to admit that hunting mice was a good bit of fun, it was just the taste that put him off. Even so, he couldn't become too slack. There was a possibility now, things to do, places to go, things and people to find. There would be little time to be lax.

And then hot, cooked food was mentioned.

It was too much for the little feline to keep a loud, exuberant yowl contained. He purred happily as he hopped off the sofa and followed Mina over to the refrigerator. He hopped up on the table and meowed once again in excitement. Eggs! Bacon! MORE MILK!

"Yes, yes! Of course I can eat eggs! Goodness knows I've stolen plenty out of chicken coops over the years. But, its been so long since I've had them cooked... Why, I don't think anyone has ever cooked for me! And I've certainly never had bacon! I've heard of it, but... I've never had any. Is it good? You wouldn't mind, would you?

"And yes, yes, yes, of course the milk, thanks!"

He sat on the table, his tail lolling off the slide, swaying expectantly. A happy purr escaped him as he eyes the girl intently.

Mina jumped as a loud, joyful meow came suddenly out of nowhere. The sound of paws on carpet and then on linoleum made her spin around to watch as Fjor suddenly hopped up onto the table and looked at her expectantly. She blinked as her new cat friend's demeanor did a total 360 right before her eyes. It was almost magical, how happy the thought of cooked suddenly made him. In her chest, Mina's heart began to sink. Just how long had he gone without good, warm food? The thought made Mina's chest ache with empathy; then roused her into a new state of determination.

"Alright then!" she exclaimed, grabbing a wok-shaped frying pan and the butter as she heated up one of the burners on her stove. "It won't be anything gormet, but I'll do my best!" She tested the milks to see which was best, then halved the freshest bottle between a bowl for Fjor and the frying pan. She tossed an egg and a hint of cheese in with the milk that was in the pan, and started to work it with a pair of chopsticks. On the adjacent burner, she started cooking the slabs of bacon. Mina cooked a few different types of eggs, spliting the scrambled eggs between herself and Fjor and then making sunny-side up eggs and eggs that were cooked all the way through with chopped bacon also cooked into the egg. She moved like lightning and her brow furrowed with concentration. This was suddenly very important project to her. She served him his share with a few strips of thick bacon on the side, two crispy and two chewy. She placed the bowl of milk next to him and took a short break before finishing her own breakfast.

"Boy, it got toasty in here...." Mina sighed as she leaned up against the table, wiping her brow. "...Speaking of toast, I'll make you some if you want it, but judging by the way you peeled my sandwich yesterday I'd say you're probably sick of bread," she observed. "Try those and see which ones you like best. Oh, and if you want ketchup for the eggs let me know; I have some in the fridge."

Syrian shook her head in confusion as the girl immediately did a 180 degree face-turn of personality. She no longer seemed like the tiny, confused, frightened child she'd been moments before. Now she had an air of age and wisdom to her, far beyond her supposed years would allow.

Syrian's heart clenched in sympathy at Rhea's admission that her parents were dead, but her brain was far more interested in the next things the seeming-child had to say. A secret? A secret so important she wouldn't even tell her sister, were she alive...

Her eyes wide, Syrian gave a hesitant nod. "I... I promise.." she said warily, wondering what the girl could possibly tell her.

Ok here we go, the big reveal. What was she going to say? What was she going to do? What was she going to reveal to this woman? She would need to do it in a way that wouldn't freak her out, a way that wouldn't cause her to panic or attract the attention of any one nearby. She need to be calm about this, and make the intelligent choice.

'Hi,' the voice of Rhea echoed in Syrian's head as the girl stared at Syrian, 'I'm not actually a kid as you can tell, please do not panic though!' the voice seemed to beg a little as she hoped that she was not absolutely terrifying the adult. She had once convinced someone they were crazy on accident doing this, she would often do it to some people on purpose just to mess with them.

Fjor's eyes went wide with gratitude and unabashed wonder at the feast laid out before him. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen so much food. And it was cooked! He barely knew where to start.

Rectifying this problem, he simply began to devour the closest plate.

For a few minutes, the cat was lost in bliss. He had never had a meal this utterly fantastic! Aad bacon! How on Earth had no one ever told him about bacon, and why, for the sake of all that was good and pure, had he never tasted it? IT was like his taste buds were giving his entire body a hug, it was so good.

Add to all of this that he got to finish all of this off with an entire glass of cold milk, and it was almost too much to handle.

Two whole plates of food gone and one glass of milk topped off, he rolled over and lay on his back, paws in the air content.

The kitty almost drifted back asleep right there, when he was jolted awake. Flipping over on his paws, he shook himself and regained his composure.

"Right," he said, "that was excellent, Nomina. Truly a fantastic job. The best meal I've ever had, and I don't say that lightly!" He yawned and stretched.

"Right, right, right! Still, today we have things to attend to. We have to get a move on soon. The sooner the better."

He sat down again and eyed the refrigerator and the pretty, young girl sitting across from him. He wasn't made of stone. Nor his stomach.

"Stiiillll.... We could wait a bit. Enjoy the morning. No harm in that, I suppose. For the time being."

He laid down and absentmindedly lapped at the egg yolks on a plate, relishing their savory taste.

"So, why not tell me a little about yourself. If I really wanted to, I could pry it out of your mind, but I think that's a tad rude, don't you?" He looked up at her, slyly.

Mina had barely finished cutting up her first egg by the time Fjor was finished with his food. It had all happened so fast, like a whirlwind had come through and finished his plate for him! Mina just sat there and watched, the half-cut peice of egg dangling off her fork as she watched him in awe. A pang of worry ran through her as he complimented her cooking.

"That's what I was afraid of..." she murmured sadly, looking at him with soft, concerned eyes. She shoved the bite of egg into her mouth, along with a half peice of bacon, and then pushed the rest of her plate over to the cat. "Here, eat this. No questions, no complaints. I'm not a big breakfast person anyways, and I'm sick of my own cooking. I think you need it more than I do," she laughed with some egg still in her mouth. She swallowed before grabbing the milk carton and popping a peice of toast in the toaster, a move she immediately regretted once Fjor began talking about their busy agenda. Mina scoffed and rolled her eyes as she refilled the bowl with what was left of the milk. "Sure, sure; we can go as soon as you eat. As long as you eat first."

Suddenly, Fjor seemed to want calm down and talk. It seemed very sudden, but... Mina was willing to oblige if it meant they'd get a breather. "You... want to know more about me?" she asked, looking at him strangely for a moment. It seemed like a normal enough request, but... well as he said he could do it himself (apparently) so there was really no reason NOT to tell him.

"Trust me, there's no reason to go digging. Sometimes I think talking is the only thing that keeps me sane," Mina chuckled, shaking her head. "I mean, my life's nothing special; at least nothing that would really be important to a god I'd think... I'm an Architecture major here at Drexel, minoring in Philosophy oddly enough. It helps with coming up with concepts, which requires a lot of thought. I get average grades, I have an average amount of friends..." she paused and squinched her eyes shut, thinking about what else to tell him. "I split my recreational time between studio and tennis, and dance when tennis isn't going on. I do some martial arts over the summer instead of going to the gym, but I'm no karate kid. I only have a blue belt. And, uh...... Neither of my parents were born in the states, and neither was I, so I'm actually not technically a legal citizen. They divorced before I could take the test so I've been floundering around with a green card for years." She winced upon hurriedly spitting this information out. "Sorry if you were hoping for someone natural-born, or if that's irresponsible of me. I got really depressed after everything happened and its been lower than it should be on my list of priorities ever since..."

He scoffed a bit. She was treating him like a child. 'Eat before we go.' He appreciated her care for her well being and of course he ate the food, but still.

He listened to her talking, nibbling at the plate in front of him, his tail slowly swaying.

"Hm." He mused.

"Not bad, really. For such a young age. You're obviously a very bright and curious young lady. And the whole bit about the fighting, that's good. You may need it before the end of this, and for that I am sorry. Really.

"Still, I'm not to familiar with the paperwork you're talking about. Most of my travels have been as a stowaway, you see. That or walking. Lots and lots of walking. Without a 'green-card' will you still be able to travel? We won't be staying here.

Also, hush about all this natural born non-sense. You live for as long as I have and you come to realize that citizenry doesn't count for much. People are people, no matter where you go. I should know. I helped make you." He chuckled at his own joke.

"I am sorry to hear about you're parent's though. That must be difficult for you..."

His ears perked up and there was a little twinkle in his eye.

"If you look at in a certain light, I guess you could call me a very removed sort of father, couldn't you? Hmh. I've given that one plenty of thought over the years..."

He looked down at his plate, a subtle note entering his voice, something ringing of loss and regret.

"Plenty of time..." he repeated.

"Well, if it makes you feel better I've needed it on this campus more than I have while hanging around with you so far, so you don't need to be sorry yet," she chuckled quietly. "To be fair, it's just the stuff I do when I'm trying to get my mind off of life in general. But thanks. And in terms of travel, well, I still have my Portugese and Japanese passports along with my green card. The Japanese Passport won't help much now that I've switched my citizenry... but the Portugese passport is still valid for another 8 years, as is my green card, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal to travel. Why? How far do you think we'll be traveling....?" Mina asked curiously.

"That's true. People tend to be people wherever you go..." Mina nodded, still chuckling. "I've been around quite a few countries... Oh my gosh my surrogate father is a cat." Mina began to laugh uncontrollably. "Stick a fork in me because I am d - o - n - e done. Done!! Look at what my life is." She wiped away a few tears as she caught her breath. She reached out and grabbed Fjor's paw. "Thank you, honestly... It does mean a lot. I mean, my parents meant well, but.... You know, as you said. People are people." She noticed Fjor was starting to look down, so she squeezed his paw. "Don't be sad... You're a great dad, I'm certain of it. Even if... well, why did they turn you into a cat?"

If Syrian's eyes had been wide before, they were now practically bugging out of her head as the voice echoed through her head. It was very clearly not her own; it had a strict feeling of foreignness and somehow struck her as very ancient and powerful.

Her mouth had dropped open in her shock, as she blinked at Rhea for several moments, silent and uncomprehending, unable to move or make a sound as she desperately attempted to process what exactly was going on.

After several minutes, Syrian finally closed her mouth with a slight struggle, glancing away from the girl to let her gaze fall to the table. "I... how... wha- mm." She stumbled incomprehensibly before shutting her mouth with a frustrated sound. Then she looked back up at Rhea. "Who are you?" she finally whispered.

The girl was shocked, expected. Then silent, expected. Now for her to laugh at her or scream in panic and run...she didn't do that, unexpected, but good.

Rhea merely sat there, silent as she waited for the human to pull herself together at this shocking telepathic development. The divine being was neither nervous nor on edge, merely wishing to get on with this and get this part over with.

Syrian finally spoke up, whispering a question she had been asked by every human ever, "Who are you?"

"I'm Rhea," she reminded the woman, 'I may appear to be human, but i'm quite different from the average human,' she spoke with telepathy. She had decided not to pull the "I am a god" card just yet. That would be a bit too much of a rush.

'Either way, could we speak about this somewhere alone? I'd rather not some know-nothing human hear about this..' Rhea shifted in her seat, remaining vocally silent and going back to the young child in need of an adult act.

Rhea had pronounced her name differently from how it was actually pronounced in the two times she had said it. She always obscured where she came from, embarrassed by amount of incest and murder that occurred in her realm of religion, along with the fact that she would have to explain why she wasn't in Tartarus and what had actually happened. She would have to explain her inability to choose between her family and her children, and even if it were to happen again to this day she didn't know if she'd be able to make that decision still.

Though she wondered if she had technically chosen her children at this point, since she was trying to help them and all. She just needed to get her powers back.

The way that the girl -Rhea, Syrian had been reminded- talked about humans, it was apparent to the woman that Rhea didn't count herself among them. Whoever, or rather perhaps, whatever this girl was, she was clearly much more than she appeared to be.

At Rhea's request, Syrian nodded, standing up from the table. "We can go to my apartment. I have a roommate, but she should still be in class at this time," she said, looking at her watch to check the time. "If she shows up; you're my cousin that I'm watching for my aunt -she hasn't met any of my family, so she won't be suspicious."

Syrian then led the way out of the building and across the rather large campus. After a hike up a steep hill, they reached the small apartment building that Syrian lived in. It was different than most apartments, in that it was a small, one-story structure with only four apartments: two on the left and two on the right, side-by-side with one another.

Syrian unlocked one of the doors and stood aside to let Rhea in, feeling nervous at the state of the living room -her roommate made a habit of having her boyfriend over and he wasn't the cleanest of people.

Rhea did not complain despite her weary human little legs, following the woman up the hill and into the apartment. The room was messy, a half eaten greasy pizza simply laying around on the couch without even a box nor plate to go with it. What looked to be a empty soda pop bottle on its side with the cap open on the floor, there seemed to still be some left in it but luckily it was not enough to leak out. Papers where everywhere on the table, as if they had not bothered to tidy up even in the slightest.

This was kind of disgusting...

Rhea cringed slightly, despite her own condition being quite a bit worse with the filth dirt and tear. She had grown a bit used to looking like this, though feeling clean would have been quite pleasant. The only times she kept a good scheduled hygiene was when she was with a partner, at least one that believed her. Sometimes when someone decided to pick her up off the street they'd keep her in their house to call the police however she would simply use the shower and leave through the backdoor...or window.

However, Rhea did not whine nor keep her cringing face for long. She instead walked into the apartment, "Is she not here?" she questioned, hoping the answer was yes. If so, then she could proceed with her explanations, however if they were then it'd be a problem. She had asked to go to someplace in private, that meant nobody at all. If the roommate was here then it'd be a problem.

Syrian cringed at the state of the living room. After shutting the door after Rhea, she hurriedly grabbed the small trash can near the door and did a whirlwind pick-up of the living room. She scowled in disgust at the uneaten pizza on her couch, tossing it in the bin. She'd told her roommate that if she and her boyfriend wanted to eat on the couch, they needed to at least clean up after themselves!

After the quick tidy-up, she glanced at Rhea. The girl's question still hung in the air, and Syrian walked down the hallway of the apartment and knocked on the furthest door. "Hey, Katlyn, are you in there?" she called as she knocked. After a few moments, there was no answer, and Syrian opened the door a crack to peek in the room.

She then returned to the living room, shaking her head. "Nah, she's in class like I thought she would," she said to Rhea. "I'd offer you to sit down on the couch, but it needs a good dry cleaning after Katlyn's slob of a boyfriend got to it," she said dryly. "Best I can offer is at the kitchen table, unless you want to sit on my unmade-bed."

She was still curious as to what exactly was going on with the strange, more-than-human girl, but she figured good manners was better than just demanding answers right away. Besides, if this girl could speak into her mind, who knew what other powers she might have? It was always best not to piss off those more powerful than you, in Syrian's opinion.

Rhea gave her decision a final once over, making sure that this was going to be the best course of action. Well, of course this was not the best course of action, but it would have to do. What was the worst that could happen? This girl dragging her to the church and demanding that the demon within her be exorcised with an excessive amount of holy water?

"It's fine," Rhea spoke up. She would have very much liked to wash up and rest a bit, but this part needed to be over and done with, "As I said, i'm not quite human. I'm a god. One of growth, re-production, longevity, and...Life," she hesitated once more before uttering the final word, knowing what would spring upon the girl's mind almost immediately if not sooner or later. "

She paused to evaluate the girl's expression before continuing on, "I'm, in a bit of trouble though. Gods aren't exactly supposed to look like, well this," she pointed to herself to refer to her current form, "Some things happened I do not wish to go into detail about, but i'm now a small child and I cannot return to my correct self. I wish to ask for your aid in this task...don't worry about not knowing what to do though, it's basically just helping me get around and helping me get back my abilities and position..."

As Rhea spoke she studied the person's face, looking for the first sign of this woman thinking she was crazy, some demon, or some psychic that's fooling with her. Either way, Rhea was ready to hoof it if needed, though she did not know if her body could take much more running. Perhaps hiding would be a better option than outright fleeing?

The child clung to her backpack straps, clenching them and waiting for either approval or utter rejection. She expected something like an outburst about the sister, or maybe a request to think about it, or even a request for proof. What about silence? What was she going to do if the human just stayed silent the entire time? Rhea swallowed her uneasiness, wondering why she was so uneasy about this in the first place and blamed it on the years in the mortal world having gotten to her with her confidence or something along those odds. Right?