Itzal gave Cole a smile, though it was a little too weak for his liking. "Thank you." At least he'd crash-landed in a nice person's yard. Trying to find somewhere to clean up and rest in his condition, whatever that might be, would have been a nightmare. He followed Cole towards his house, noticing a sharp pain in his left leg that made him limp slightly. This was a bit like a fun treasure hunt, except it wasn't fun and the treasure was figuring out how many cuts and bruises he'd mysteriously acquired. Itzal carefully made his way through the door and into the house. It was pretty clean, which he appreciated greatly, though he didn't know what to do now he was in the strange house.
The house wasn't the biggest, and as they stepped inside, they were in his living room. To the left was a tiled kitchen area and behind that was a small dining room. On the back wall, there was a small set of stairs leading up and against the wall of the living room, there was a door. Cole stepped inside, slipping his shoes off and motioning for Itzal to follow him. "The bathroom is right here, help yourself to use anything in it," He said, leading him to the door off the living room and opening it to reveal a decent sized bathroom.
Noticing that Cole took off his shoes, Itzal did the same, leaving a dirty pair of dress shoes near the door. He glanced around the house, taking note of everything, then followed Cole. "Thank you." He gave Cole a smile, then hesitantly made his way into the bathroom. Itzal slowly closed the door and turned to look at the shower. He'd figure out how to make that work later, but before that, he wanted to check out his forehead. It had thankfully stopped bleeding and didn't look too bad, either. Satisfied that he wouldn't collapse while he was showering, Itzal turned the shower on– and managed to do it without too much frustration either! He put his ruined clothes in a neat pile and stepped into the shower, hissing when the hot water hit a gash on his thigh. Getting out of the shower as fast as possible became his new objective, and Itzal got all the blood and grime off in record time.
Cole nodded and smiled in return, spinning on his heel and heading upstairs to find some clothes for his new guest. It was tough to guess what size he would wear, but in the end he just grabbed whatever, ending up with a pair of joggers, a loose fitting t-shirt and a soft sweatshirt for overtop. Seeing that Itzal had also been wearing some fancy looking shoes, he also picked out a pair of socks and hoped that it would be good enough for now.
It was weird, to have someone else in his house. Cole hadn't had company besides his parents for holidays and Itzal was far from related to him. When he came back downstairs, he set the clothes right outside the bathroom door. "Whenever you're ready to change, the clothes are outside the door." He called.
Itzal shut off the water and stepped out. After drying himself off with a towel, he started towards the door to collect the clothes Cole had left for him. As he passed the mirror, Itzal caught a glimpse of the bruises on the light brown of his skin and winced. Whatever had beaten him up had done a pretty good job of it. The gash in his leg was the most worrisome injury, and Itzal needed to take care of it. If something came after him and he had to run, this would only slow him down. His magic felt very depleted, but he managed to gather up just enough to heal the cut. It wasn't all the way healed, and it would probably leave a scar, but it was better than an open wound. Itzal opened the door and snatched the pile of clothes. He felt a bit weird about taking a total stranger's clothes, but his were definitely going in the trash. Or maybe he could burn them. Itzal quickly changed, finding the clothes to mostly fit him. After pulling back his damp, shoulder-length hair into a short braid, Itzal opened the door and stepped into the living room.
Cole had taken up working in the kitchen while he waited, reheating some leftovers with his back to Itzal. The back of his sandy blonde hair was to the guest and he seemed to be just watching the microwave as a plate of mac & cheese spun around inside. Still, he was in his running clothes, having not bothered changing into anything else in the time he had. "Are you hungry?" He called, snapping back to reality when the sound of the door opening reached his ears. Itzal stood in the living room, looking much better now that he was cleaned up. Now he just guessed that food and any major injuries were going to be his main focus.
"Um…" Itzal paused, realizing that he was very hungry. A side effect of getting beat up, using almost all his magic and crashing to the planet in human form, it would seem. "Yes." He nodded, taking slow steps towards the kitchen and Cole. Hopefully, getting some food in his stomach would replenish his magic enough to heal his head, along with all the other achy places. Then he could try and figure out what had happened. The time before him falling through the sky was still a frustrating blur, small snapshots appearing and disappearing randomly. Itzal paused in the middle of the kitchen, unsure of where to sit. He was being really careful not to do anything wrong, but he needed this kind stranger's help. Without it, he was stuck.
"I warmed up some mac & cheese if you want that. Otherwise, I can make something else," Cole offered, pulling the food out of the microwave and walking over to a small table tucked under a window. He set it down on the table in front of one of the two seats, then smiled at his guest, "I'll get some silverware." He walked back to the kitchen and opened one of the drawers, taking out a fork for Itzal. For someone who had just crashed to the ground outside a stranger's house, he looked pretty calm. The thing that Cole was curious about though were his injuries. The silver blood told him that he wasn't human, but even then, how in the world did he get hurt that bad? It couldn't have been just from falling.
"Oh, no, mac & cheese is fine," Itzal said, following Cole to the table. He sat down, wincing slightly at the cut on his leg. It wasn't fully healed yet, and it filled him with frustration that he wasn't able to fully heal it. The food in front of him smelled delicious, and his mouth watered slightly. Itzal accepted the fork from Cole and dug into the food, trying to eat slowly. But he practically inhaled the mac & cheese. As he set the fork onto the empty plate, he could feel his energy and magic slowly returning. A small smile appeared on his lips as he looked up at Cole. "Thank you. That was delicious." Itzal was itching to heal as much as he could, but he had no idea how Cole would react. He eyed Cole, then decided a subtle bit of magic wouldn't hurt anything. Itzal casually waved his hand over the place on the table where his injured leg was. He shivered slightly as time wound backward on the wound, completely erasing it after a couple of seconds.
(I'm sorry it's shorter)
He smiled and nodded, "No problem." Before Cole walked back over to take the plate though, he motioned to the fridge, "Do you want anything else? I have more food if you're still hungry." He had no clue how much Itzal wanted to eat, but it wasn't much trouble if he was still hungry and wanted more. Cole was going to make himself dinner anyways, seeing as he didn't need to wait to eat until he got back from his run. That part of his day had been cut out for now it seemed.
(You're good!)
"Umm…" Itzal paused, gauging his magic. It was fine– the only thing that could make it better was a good, long nap. "I'm good, thank you." He gave Cole a thankful look, fingers drifting to his forehead to check the cut. It hadn't started bleeding again, but he was pretty sure it would start right up again if someone so much as looked at it wrong. Maybe if Cole turned away for a second, he could just–
The memory came in a quick, painful burst. It was a snapshot of Elief, her black hair coming loose from its tight braid. The figure with the crown was standing over her, sword at her throat. Itzal was too far away, his magic nearly gone. He screamed Elief's name and the figure looked over at him, a wicked smile on their lips. The sword raised, and–
Itzal opened his eyes, the ceiling above him floating back into focus. He must have blacked out for a second. At least he had gone backwards, instead of face-planting into the empty plate in front of him.
Cole had returned his look with a smile before opening the fridge again and looking for something that he could eat. "So, where are you fro-," He asked, poking his head over the door of the fridge just in time to see Itzal's head roll backward. Immediately he knew something was wrong and closed the fridge, quickly making his way over to him and tapping him on the shoulder, "Itzal, hey, are you alright?" It looked like he had blacked out, but he wasn't sure until his eyes flicked open a few seconds later. Cole sighed in relief but didn't back away. "Are you alright? I think you just passed out."
Itzal turned his head towards Cole, still trying to get the image of Elief and the figure out of his mind. "I'm… I'm fine. It was just a memory." His voice was thick, and he swallowed as he lifted his head. Cole was being really nice, and Itzal felt bad that he couldn't give him anything. "Um… I probably owe you some answers as a thank you for helping me." Itzal ran a hand over his eyes. "So, uh, if you want to ask me anything, go ahead. It's the least I can do." He looked at Cole, wondering what he would ask. Hopefully, it wouldn't be anything he couldn't answer… which was a disturbing amount of stuff.
(Sorry for being gone for so long, life has been crazy)
"I'll ask questions after I eat, that way you can have some time to do whatever." Cole smiled gently at him, hearing the emotion in Itzal's voice. It was the least he could do, giving him some space to process whatever memory had just flashed through his mind. Cole backed away from his guest and after glancing over once more to make sure he was alright, made his way to the kitchen to find something to eat. The mac & cheese had been what he planned to eat before Itzal came around, but it didn't bother him that he had to find something else. A sandwich sounded fine anyway. He pulled out the ingredients to make a sandwich and whipped one together, cleaning up before he came back to sit at the table with his guest.
(You're good! Life can be like that. :)
"Okay." Itzal nodded, watching Cole walk into the kitchen in search of something to eat. Now was the time to fix his head wound. He waited for a few seconds, then reached up and waved his hand over his forehead. The cut slowly closed and disappeared, which also relieved some of Itzal's headache. He considered using a bit more of his magic to figure out what had happened but decided against it. Maybe later, when he was feeling one hundred percent better. Instead, he watched Cole make a sandwich and pulled together as much knowledge as he could about what had happened to him, just in case Cole asked. While he was doing that, a part of him was wondering what had happened to the rest of his fellow gods. Had Finlai and Lazare also gotten thrown through the sky, or were they– Itzal shook his head slightly, refusing to even think about that possibility. He looked up when Cole sat down, glad for the distraction.
He smiled lightly when he said down, saying nothing and starting on his sandwich. "So, where are you from?" Cole asked once he polished off the remains of his sandwich, true to what he said about only asking questions once he had finished eating. Asking where Itzal was from was probably the simplest question he had, but he figured it was a good place to start considering that he was more curious as to how Itzal found himself falling through the sky and landing in his yard.
"I'm, uh… I'm from the Forest of Eternity," Itzal said, smiling a bit at the name. The forest was the home of the gods, and it was honestly the best place ever, in his opinion. "It's a wonderful place. I live– I lived there with the rest of the gods." Itzal bit his lip. He had no idea how much Cole knew about all the gods– some people knew a lot, but most just knew that the gods existed. "Do you have any other questions?" He asked, looking at Cole curiously. So far, this questioning was going quite well. Itzal was actually enjoying it a bit. No one ever asked him questions. They were always treating him, well, like an all-powerful god. Not that that was him, anymore.
"Can you tell me about the gods? And what in the world happened there that you fell from the sky and landed in my yard?" Cole continued, trying to keep himself from blurting all his questions out all at once, "You're a god too, I assume, so what are you the god of?" He didn't know much about the gods to be honest, just that they existed and sometimes rarely they interacted with humans like himself. Anything he could learn about them he wanted to, he was genuinely curious about Itzal and his kind. Cole leaned back on his chair, listening to whatever Itzal had to say in response to his questions.
"Sure!" Itzal exclaimed, his face lighting up in response to the first question. "There's Eleif, the god of life and luck. She's a really fun person to be around. Uh, Finlai is the god of love and death. She's kinda uptight and annoys us all a lot, but deep down she's a good person. And Lazare is… well, the god of chaos. They're a little unpredictable and are always throwing glitter everywhere, but they're pretty nice sometimes." Itzal sighed sadly. "As for how I ended up here… well, some very powerful beings appeared and we were caught off-guard. We all fought as hard as we could, but they did something to me and I ended up in the clouds over your house." He shrugged, not really wanting to revisit the memories that he had, or expose the fact that he didn't remember much about it at all. "Yes, I am a god. The god of time, actually." Itzal nodded slowly as if to convince himself that he was actually the god of time. "Do you have any more questions?"
"A being more powerful than a god?" He questioned, leaning back forward and propping his arms on the table as he asked questions, "I have a ton more questions, but first, are there more gods than just you four?" Hearing that there was something that could fight against gods and win was weird. Cole had thought that gods were the most powerful beings, but according to what Itzal had just said, it sounded like they weren't. He wanted to know more, but it seemed rude to ask him too many questions at once, even if Itzal had said he could ask whatever questions he wanted.
"Apparently." Itzal laughed softly and shook his head. "I have no idea who they are, or where they came from, but they're dangerous, that's for sure." He sighed softly, wishing he could remember more about them. When they arrived, how they had defeated the gods, all that stuff. But no matter how much he concentrated or searched his memories, Itzal came up empty every time. "There are, but they're more like minor gods. They each have their own little palaces all over the place. Us four don't really see or talk to them much, though." Itzal looked at Cole, wondering if he had any other questions. "Hopefully, that fact saved them from those beings."
"So four 'major' gods, and a lot of smaller ones?" Cole asked, his head tilted to the side slightly in question, "And you are one of the major ones?" He had known that Itzal was a god, but him being one of the major ones was interesting. There was an extremely powerful being sitting right at his dining table, having a conversation with him. That thought blew Cole's mind and he smiled, letting a few more questions out, "So, what did that being do to you that made you fall through the clouds? And what do they want to do? Messing with gods and throwing them down to Earth.
"Yes." Itzal nodded. "And yes. I'm actually the leader, kinda. They all decided it for me, so I didn't get much of a choice, but it's nice to be able to keep an eye on them all." He laughed slightly. Cole's best few questions were not as nice. "I, uh, don't actually know," Itzal admitted, his eyes dropping to the table. "Whatever they did messed with my memory. I can hardly even remember them." His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "They have silver crowns that look like they've been dipped in human blood, and they are more powerful than any of us could have imagined."
"You say crowns, as in there is or was more than one of these creepy beings, plural?" He asked, his smile fading as Itzal revealed what he remembered, "That isn't good, at all." Cole watched his guest, blue eyes filled with concern as he tried to imagine what in the world these beings were going to do. He doubted they would stop by taking out four gods, especially if that is what they did right off the bat. He got to his feet as he thought, pushing in his chair and leaning against the back of it.
"Um… I think so." Itzal shrugged, feeling rather useless at the moment. There was no way they could stop these beings if he didn't even remember what they did to him. "I don't think they meant to keep me alive," Itzal muttered, resting his chin in his hand and looking up at Cole. "I should probably find somewhere else to stay, just in case they come for me. I don't want to put you in harm's way." It was too hard to convince himself to stand up, but it was for the best. Cole had helped him so much, and the last thing Itzal wanted was for him to die. And he was almost positive the crowned beings would find him.
(I'm so so sorry it's late… today was crazy)
"You could stay here tonight, just until morning. One night won't put me in harm's way," Cole suggested, not really liking the idea of Itzal out looking for a place to stay late at night. Especially if he collapsed again or anything like that. He shrugged, looking at his guest and continuing, "It can get pretty iffy out there at night, and you probably should get some sleep if you want those injuries to heal fully."
(You're good! :)
"Oh… thank you," Itzal said softly. He wasn't totally sure that was the case, but he was tired and feeling a little selfish. He deserved a good night's rest after everything that he'd been through… but still. Whoever or whatever those crowned beings were, they probably weren't going to wait for Itzal to sleep and get all his strength back. Still… Itzal stayed standing, still trying to convince himself he could stay for one night. It was harder than he thought it should be, thanks to his conscience. But resting comfortably would be the only way to get strong enough to have a chance at beating those beings if they did appear again.
He nodded, smiling gently and making his way away from the table and over to where the couch was in his living room, "I can get you some blankets and pillows whenever you want to crash on the couch for the night, and I'll make sure the front door is locked if you're worried about those beings coming for you." Cole knew that a locked door wouldn't stop the beings, especially if they had tried to kill for major gods, but maybe it could help Itzal calm down and sleep.
Itzal smiled gratefully at Cole and followed him over to the couch. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I think I'd like to go to sleep now. Get as much as I can in before something happens." He explained, his hands clenched together in front of him. He was really nervous about… everything, but maybe getting some sleep would make something clear. And, of course, it would help him if he had to fight anyone or anything. Itzal let his hands go, not wanting to show Cole just how afraid he was. "Thank you."
"Yeah, that's no problem at all. I'll go grab the stuff from upstairs and then you can get to sleep." Cole nodded, pointing to the stairs at the back of the house as he glanced at Itzal, "Be right back." With that, he turned and walked over to the stairs, climbing up them like he had a thousand times. Upstairs wasn't much to look at, just Cole's makeshift room and office as well as storage. Basically it was a mess outside of the area surrounding his bed and desk. Thankfully he didn't have to search too hard to find the extra blankets and pillows in the mess, grabbing them so he could get back to his guest as quickly as possible.
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