Irae sighed. "I don't know how to put it in terms a mortal could understand… Imagine you are a queen over a kingdom. Within you, driving you, and three queens. One of Wraith, one of Justice, and one of Revenge. They are all tied together, it can be hard to tell which is commanding you. Now imagine your kingdom has 100 people, all of which have been personally harmed by a neighboring kingdom . 92 of those people want wraithful revenge, 5 want unwraithful revenge, 2 want wraithful justice, and only one wants unwraithful justice. Because of this, the wraithful queen and the revenging queen are whispering to you, taking control, and the justice queen is pushed aside. You might not even notice that justice isn't fully there anymore. You do what the people want. Those people are my patron mortals, the ones I watch and govern. Only 3% want justice over revenge, causing the wraithful and revengful sides of me to take over. I couldn't even tell when I could see, when I had the power. I still can't really, I still think it might have been justice rather than revenge. It isn't my fault, I don't control the wants of mortals. But the wants of mortals influence the gods more then they'd like to admit. And it scares them. So they took it out on me, who they believe is most impacted."
She tried to explain, though it was a very simplified comparison.
Clarissa blinked at the analogous explanation, but nodded. In a strange way, it did make sense while making her feel like parts of it went over her head. Something she hadn't felt since she was a student having to sit through a lecture.
“Alright then. And how long do they expect you to have to stay to… deal with all that?” she asked, honestly doubting there was an actual timeframe in mind when they decided to banish Irae. “Even in human politics, justice is a complicated principle.”
Irae shrugged. "The wording of the sentence was until I'm prepared to keep justice balanced. Probably not long, the minor gods they have covering are likely to do worse than I did. Maybe a century at most? Honestly probably less than a decade." She said, not realizing how long that was to most mortals. "I don't know how they expect me to see justice when they look my sight- the scales help. And I think they forgot to assign someone to weigh souls after death, they always forget I do that too."
“A century!” Clarissa exclaimed in shock. “Humans don't live that long. I… don't even know if I can do this for 10 years. One hundred is out of the question.” she groaned, rubbing her hands down her face.
"I'll get out of your hair long before then! I'd be gone today if I thought I could find somewhere else to sleep. I don't need a mortal to guide me like a baby, just a place to stay until I figure out this mortal thing by myself."
Irae did not seem to know that most mortals didn't have scorpion tails or pointed ears.
Clarissa chuckled humorlessly at the idea of Irae trying to handle “mortal stuff” on her own.
“Girl, if it was that easy, I doubt you’d have been dropped off in my living room.” she couldn't help smirking. “Tell me, when’s the last time you visited Earth or even just interacted with your… what’d you call them, patron mortals?”
Irae frowned. "Time is hard. Last decade, I think. We aren't really supposed to go down to earth. But I see it! I know I'll need a job to get money, money to get food and a living space. And there's something dumb called taxes that we tried to prevent. The government takes a bit of your money whenever it changes hands."
Clarissa sighed, her shoulders dropping as Irae displayed more understanding of how things worked than she had initially expected. “Right. Good.” she nodded. “Only one other thing that’s kinda important… humans don't have tails. Of any kind.” she pointed out. “If you go out like that, you’ll attract all the wrong kind of attention. I don't suppose you can change your appearance, can you?”
Irae shook her head, frustrated. "I know humans don't have tails. humans the only sentient mortals? I could have sworn there were more-"
She seemed puzzled.
"I cannot change my appearance- this is as human as I get. Even this is drastically different from my natural form."
Clarissa nodded, noticing Irae’s confusion but unsure how to approach it. “Ok… well, that tail is still going to draw some stares.” she mused. “I’m guessing illusions are also out, so we’ll need to come up with something cause… as easy as it would be to just have you stay here, I don't think you would appreciate cabin fever. Plus if you want to show these bozos that you can handle this, they might expect you to interact with people other than just me.”
"Will my ears also be a problem? Humans generally have short, rounded ears instead of longer, pointed ones, right?" Irae asked curling her tail to the side and pulling her shirt over it. "It's not comfortable, or perfect, but with a jacket it would probably work-" Irae said, twisting her head to see how it worked. "I'll need looser clothes-"
“Well, you’re right about human ears but I think as long as you keep them hidden under your hair or wear a hoodie it should be manageable,” Clarissa suggested, looking at Irae’s makeshift solution to hiding her tail. “I guess it works. We can definitely get you some new clothes… I don't know if a skirt would work out better but we can check out that option when we’re shopping.”
Irae nodded. "For now, a hood will work while we get new clothes. I will pay you back for the clothes when I get a job…" She said, thinking.
“You're actually planning to get a job?” Clarissa couldn't help chuckling. “I’m sorry. It's just a surprise to hear of a… well a deity considering something so domestic. Or comparatively mundane when you think about what they’re normally capable of.” she explained as she got up. “You want some coffee or something?”
"Well I don't plan on relying on you or charity. So yeah, I'm gonna get a job. And no, I don't need coffee. Thank you for the offer." It wasn't spoken politely, it was spoken like someone was trying to to be polite while angry or frustrated.
Clarissa put her hands up in a placating gesture at Irae’s tone. “Chill out. I was just offering. And if I offended you by laughing just now… I’m sorry. It wasn't my intention.” she explained. “I just… I know a bit about some of the more popular mythologies and just…” she sighed.
Irae shook her head. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the others who wouldn't listen when I tried to explain what happened. I'm frustrated that I'm stuck down here, knowing less then I thought."
Clarissa sighed and let her hands drop back to her sides. "That makes sense and is totally understandable." she nodded. "If it helps, I can kinda relate. Obviously, I'm not some goddess with power, so I can't relate to that exactly. But I did just have my sense of normal completely ripped out from under me when I was "assigned" to watch out for you. Things I never expected or even know existed just dropped right into my lap." she explained.
"It doesn't really help. But thank you for the thought, and I am sorry that I am an inconvenience. I can make it worth your while to help me- eventually- but right now I'm pretty useless in affairs of the world." Irae said, attempting to move her hair to cover her ears. It wasn't working.
Clarissa shrugged. “Given that note… I think they are the ones who owe me an apology.” she smirked. “In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do to help you figure out what you need to know about this world.” she added assuringly before furrowing her brow in thought as Irae struggled to hide her ears. “Hang on. Give me a minute.” she said as she left to get a hoodie and see if she had a headband that might help too.
Irae waited on the couch, looking around, still adjusting to the change in vision. She wondered what kind of job she could get, how to best regain her immortality, and why she had thought there were other sentiant creatures in the world. She shifted, reflexively trying to wrap her wings around herself-
And remembered those had been taken too. They had taken everything they could from her. They had practically mutilated her body, taking away a piece of her core, her soul, that made her a deity. Then they tore her wings off, somehow used magic or their own powers to steal her sight, replacing it with inferior eyes, and cutting off large chunks of her tail. As much as they could without killing her. Removing the poison was their main priority, but they had also dulled the end. They would have removed it entirely like they did her wings if they thought she could have survived it, but her tail was connected to her spine and they didn't want to risk it. They wanted to make an example of her, scare the other gods into submission.
Irae's eyes welled up with tears as she thought about it, nearly disassociating again.
Clarissa sighed as she rummaged through her closet, looking for a hoodie that would fit her new… houseguest. She had never really thought about getting a roommate before and had never considered the possibility of said roommate being a cast-out deity. This was way over her head, despite the assurance in the note that she was the best one to help Irae…
Shaking her head, she grabbed a simple pullover hoodie and darted into the bathroom to grab a soft fabric headband (which was fortunately easier to find). “Alright. Let's see if these work.” she said calmly as she rejoined Irae in the living room.
Irae quickly turned away, wiping her eyes. She glanced back, looking at the hoodie and the headband. "Let's." She said simply, holding out her hand to take the hoodie. After getting it on, she twisted her tail until it fit into the natural folds of the hoodie, and the hood hid her ears fine.
Clarissa raised a brow, opening her mouth before quickly closing it as she realized the pointlessness of the question. Instead, she just shook her head and smiled faintly at how the hoodie fit. “Glad that works. Wasn't expecting to help hide your tail too but… win-win.” she shrugged, before handing her the headband as well. “Here. Just in case you want to take the hood off when we’re in public. Obviously, you don't have to hide around me.”
Irae nodded, trying the headband on. "Not the most comfortable, but not uncomfortable either. Thank you…." Irae realized she had never asked the mortal's name.
She smirked with a soft chuckle, realizing why Irae had trailed off. “Clarissa. Nice to meet you.”
(sorry, I'm recovering from a cold and have been asleep all day-)
Irae nodded. "You too. I- uh- apologize for not asking before- " Irae said, adjusting the headband and hair over her ears, hiding them well. "Do I look human enough?"
(oof. Hope you feel better soon. Rest up as much as you need.)
"Don't worry about it. You've had a hectic day." Clarissa shrugged, seemingly not bothered by the delayed introduction. At the question, she gave a thoughtful hum and stepped a little closer. "Yeah, I'd say you're passable."
Irae nodded. "Good." She stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do from here. "Should we go?" She asked tentatively.
