"The Lord of the Wilds!? God of Wild Places?!"
"Er…maybe? Seems like good titles for me, I guess, but I was never…"
"Ah! That's right, those were titles given more recently as the legends resurfaced. But you were called the 'Horned One' and stood for peace between predator and prey, protecting all that was nature. Later, while getting your new titles, you were associated with Hacete and was a patron of magic." Tala's fangirling interruption was met with panicked wide eyes, similar to their first encounter not too long ago. Meeting no resistance, Tala just continued unstoppable.
"So if what you were hinting at was being very old," This got her a proper glare from Cernunnos, "and visiting Earth at that time, and that they gave you that name." She gasped, quickly looking around. "You're a deity, an actual god…that is apparently an alien?"
Reaching this conclusion, Tala grew bewildered at the curve ball. "And this would mean that there is a possibility of other gods not only existing but also being legitimate outer space aliens. What I wouldn't give to rub it in conspiracy theory deniers' faces…let them…" Here, she just began to endlessly mumble incoherently to herself.
The man - deity- waited patiently at her side as Tala slowly returned to herself from this world-breaking discovery. Sheepishly, her tarnished gold eyes met his pure golden ones. Clearing her throat, she looked away. Both signaling her being done freaking out and her embarrassment.
"Now that that is out of the way," Carnunnos slowly began, making sure she wouldn't break out into another rant at any time. To be fair, in less than an hour of their meeting, she had broken into two full-tilt rants on separate matters. It was hard to tell whether it was a rare occurrence for her or not.
"Seeing as you recognize 'me,' this should shorten my explanation." He gestured to the table as he spoke. Leading her to a seat and signaling for her to take a sip. He said nothing as he got comfortable, arm leaning on the table, propping his head up with his palm, and his other hand stirring an unhealthy amount of sugar and milk into the tea. Doing so only to seem polite, Tala loaded some tea with her sugar and milk. Manners were important.
"Now, let us see if I can entertain you with a good informational storytime." He chuckled as he looked at her, his gaze searching again. She wasn't sure what, but it didn't seem to be bad for her so far.
"I am not native to Earth as you have surmised. I have my own domain I watch over," Here, he waved a lazy hand off to the side again, most likely signaling to the view of the world 'under' the water. "My children differ from those of your Earth's God, and I wanted a vacation. That god is much more accepting of others coming to their world and interacting with their children. Called it a learning experience for both parties. I am, however, much more possessive and territorial." His statement ended with a growl, much like a predator would, which seemed appropriate now that she knew who he was.
"It was some such situation that ended in where we are today. It was not too long after the last time I was on Earth for an extended time, I grew bored and came home. Another creature had followed me back, wanting to poach on my children, also having grown bored of Earth's simplisties. However, I would not allow this, and in my youth, I reacted with a heavy hand."
"Any children that seemed tempted were harshly punished for following a false god and sent away to somewhere even I do not know or dead. While my back was turned, dealing with them, this creature had corrupted others by force. They cursed my people, who had reached the cusp of prosperity and would soon reach innovative levels. Moving on from being traveling tribes or small villages to being large cities with independent governments and industries. Technology was still similar to Earth's Middle Ages, but without this curse, my people could have been space-faring. Perhaps even colonizing other planets."
"I will admit I threw a bit of a fit after realizing what was happening. It didn't take long. Just a generation later, my people were doomed to regress. I targeted every planet that has even a remote link to that creature. Earth was where they followed me from, so I targeted it. I placed minuscule pockets of space that would pluck the children of those worlds into the emptiness of a void space. It's just a place to leave them floating about forever. After a few decades, I went back and removed them, realizing that hurting others who were innocent was not a good way to handle the situation."
"Of course, I had missed a few, seeing as you ended up here. That blankness you described before is gone now. I destroyed that void completely, as I should have done when cleaning up. It should cut off the possibility of this happening again, as the end point of the equation was gone."
Tala nodded slowly, running what Cernunnos had just said around her mind, trying to make heads or tails of it.
So greedy god came wanting in on Cernunnos' prospering population, perhaps for a better profit in believers or even to cause trouble in the universe. Whatever the reason, it was an inconvenience to herself, so she was not happy.
However lovely it was to know he had finally cleaned up the issue and no one else would have this happen to them, this didn't tell Tala what would be done about herself. So she voiced as such, after taking a deep sip of her tea to pull her thoughts together. She knew his story was not done, not really.
"Glad this won't affect others, and I'm sorry about all that happened to you, but if you can't send me home, what will happen to me? Will I just be hanging out with you in this realm till I grow old and die?" She ended her question with a deep breath, trying to stabilize her nerves. After all the rapid changes around her, this calm conversation gave her brain time to break down and curve down into a panic attack.
Just hold on a little longer.
Find something to hold onto.
Keep yourself together, Tala.
The smile on Cernunnos' face grew even warmer, more comforting. "That is an option on the table, and while I would enjoy your company here in this realm immensely, I have another offer for you." He looked down at his cup, swirling the tea around, seeming to be building anticipation.
Tala wasn't impressed with the showmanship.
Suddenly, he looked up again, glowing molten gold meeting burnt amber.
"How would you feel about being the savior of an entire species? Our entire world?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Savior? Liberator? Rescuer? Champion?"
"No, I got that part," she gave him a good glare for questioning her intelligence when he was the one throwing flinging curve balls out of nowhere. "What I meant was, 'How could I be a savior for an entire world' or 'Why do you need weak humans to save your people…children?' Whatever. Explain." Remembering she was talking to a literal god who could boobytrap an entire universe, she tacked on the end. "Please"
Chuckling in his joyful, boyish manner, Cernunnos again showed how much he enjoyed her anger. Tale decisively, not thinking back on how he described it looking to him.
"Well, for one, you're available to? Plenty of free time, nowhere to go, looking for purpose-" He cut off as he noticed her eyes slowly becoming mournful. Tala could feel tears building up and threatening to overflow. The impact of the situation was impending, and she could hold on for only so long.
The deity looked like he wanted to cry too, but more in panic at what he had done, both in the past and what he just said. Quickly rushing around the table, Cernunnos knelt before her after moving her chair back from the table. Gently wiping her cheeks with his arm cloth, he worked to dab up her tears that had given way. She was too numb to realize they had started to fall.
"Oh, curse my mouth. Little Bird, I didn't mean it in a way to hurt; I was just…no, that wouldn't make you feel better, rgh" He drowned, trying to pick up after himself. Tala left him to it, too busy pulling herself together to care much.
"Darling, I meant, really, truly, that I was going to give you a home down there, a place to belong, rather than drifting about. And a purpose to keep you going. Though it seems I ruined my explanation or started off bad, at least."
Seeing a chance at distraction, she glanced up to once again meet his eyes, from where she had been staring into the horizon beyond his shoulder.
"Purpose? A place to belong? Down…there?" Her gaze moved to the railing, where she could just barely see a mountain range far off in the pond below.
Cernunnos jumped at the change to engage her in conversation again now that she was responding to him. His hands, no longer cleaning her tears, held hers in her lap. Comforting her, it seemed in the only way he knew how. Skinship.
And it was. His palm was warm and large. Completely engulfing her own.
"Yes, Little Bird," it seems his nickname was also a form of comfort as he began using it more. "I will create a place for you in my domain. While I might not have enough power to send you back to yours, I have more than enough to affect the world here. The only thing I can not do is erase the curse on my children. Which brings us to the purpose I mentioned."
He continued on =, not seemingly bothered by being crouched at her feet, hands still blanketing her own.
"I am unable to directly interact with the anchors of the curse that are spread about on my worlds - - planes. My children have also slowly lost the ability to hear my voice. I used to have a few special ones who were my voice for them. However, after the curse, it affected them so badly it has been lost. Some occasionally hear a whisper, an impulse, but no words or emotions."
Tala caught on to the uptake.
"You wish me to be that voice, as I have not been afflicted with the curse."
Smiling, he nodded. "Indeed, Little Bird, and not only that, but your uncursed state would also be a boon to the destruction of those anchors. My children that have it would feel immense pain or even death when in contact with them."
Again, she felt furious at this invasive god that had caused all this to start. Though she was beginning to wonder if it was all her own. The longer she stayed here, the more she felt in tune with Cernunnos, almost like a telepathic or empathic bond.
Pushing that off again to think on later, she huffed a sigh.
"Sounds like we are making progress on what to do, and seems simple enough. Just a question, though."
Tilting his head like an inquisitive cat, Cernunnos nonverbally asked her to continue.
"I'm assuming your children would be…not human? And seeing as I am…would that be okay? Wouldn't I be like an invasive species or something?"
"Ohh, well, that's simple enough." He stated.
"Oh really, I guess I wouldn't have too much of an impact on the environment, I guess.."
"No, no, no, Little Bird, that's not what I meant."
Tala cautiously gazed at him, ignoring his interruption. The look on his face was like when he began asking her why he chose her as a savior. Silently, she prompted him to go on.
"I'll just change you from human into one of my children or similar enough. Seeing as you have no physical body anymore, it is easy enough. I collected the particles of what was once you, so I have free building blocks, and it will ease the transfer and have minimal side effects."
She froze. This might have clued him on to something being wrong. Again.
She was a bit too busy to care, though, because what?!
She would no longer be human. Was she even now?
She didn't have a physical body anymore?! Why had she not noticed that? Seems like something one would notice, actually. And he would just poof a new one out of her….bits?!
Enough was enough. Time to get back to normality.
Fainting seems the best way to achieve that.
So she did.