Eyes still closed, Aleph sensed his divinity being stripped from him. The strength he'd built up, the strength that came with killing a god, he could feel it bleeding away. His chest began to tighten, making him grow light headed until his body's instincts prompted him to breathe. That's it then, I've returned to being mortal, he thought.

"huup." He took in as much air he could manage, and immediately coughed. The air was musty and damp, and so was the floor. He opened his eyes to see that he had arrived at the new world. It was dark. He tested his limbs, his body somehow feeling familiar and not all at once. His arms felt too clumsy, too feeble to be his, and yet it was so.

He looked around for a way to get out of this place, belatedly realizing that where the meager sunlight was coming from was also the only way out.

And so he looked for a foothold, slowly pulling himself out of the hole. He could have just jumped out of this hole in his prime, but weak as he felt, his current body climbed out just fine.

"Aah!" He heard a  pained voice exclaim as he climbed out. 

It was followed by grunts and moans. Aleph looked on as a youth getting beaten up by a bunch of people his age. This continued on well after the boy stopped moving, the others only stopping to catch their breath.

"Huff, huff, huff. This is your final warning, Rayse. I'm telling you, stay away from Lacey, or- huh? Who is this?" 

It seems I can understand this world's language. Aleph thought. He stood his ground as the youths stared at him.

"Can you understand me?" Aleph ventured.

"Huuuh? Are you crazy? Hey, get a load of this guy." 

The group started to make fun of him, but Aleph just ignored them. He thought for a second and tried again.

"How about now?" He tried in a different language.

"How about what, you freak.Are you a pervert? Why are you naked on the outskirts of town?" The youth answered back.

"What's that Rayse? Speak up!" He gave the kid on the ground another kick for good measure before turning back to face the seemingly homeless man.

Hmm. English? Interesting. Aleph scratched his beard. He pondered about the implications of a language from his world suddenly showing up here. Completely ignored, the bullies started to get irritated.

"Hey, listen, old man. You better get out of here this instant and run back from whatever hole you crawled out from. This is none of your business." The arrogant one said. One of his goons stepped forward to try and push him away, only to stop short. His push didn't even move Aleph. He tried again, this time putting his back into it. It was somewhat successful, as Aleph was pushed back a step. Aleph didn't even acknowledge the youth, this time he was tugging at his own facial hair for some reason.

This has gotten really long. A body this young shouldn't have this much facial hair.

"Hey, Brandon! This guy's not even-"

The next thing the bully knew, he was on the ground, being straddled by a naked old man, face inches from each other.

"What did you say?" the Aleph said menacingly.

His friends came to his aid immediately, trying to pull the old man off of their friend. The boy named Brandon threw a punch, which Aleph immediately blocked. He sent the bullies flying with one forearm, and pinned Brandon next to his friend with the other.

"You. What is your name, boy?"

"B-Brandon, sir."

"You're named after a hero, boy. Do not dirty your name with meaningless bullying."

"Y-yes, sir! Sorry, sir!"

Aleph loosened his grip, causing the kid to squirm out from the ground and break out into a run. His friends followed soon afterwards.

Aleph was still seething, breathing heavily through his nose. It's been a while since he felt this way. A human heart can be unpredictable, he conceded. He took a few deep breaths until he calmed down.

 Eventually, he returned to his taciturn expression. He started taking note of his surroundings.

_________________________________

Rayse has been pretending to be unconscious for half an hour at this point. From the little that his swollen eye could see, he had been observing the crazy man the entire time.

He was strong for his age, being able to drive away Brandon and his goons like that, but Rayse had a feeling that he was even more unsafe being alone with this man than with the others.

The crazy man had spent the last 30 minutes going in and out of the old dilapidated house while eating every leaf, smelling every tree bark, and studying the soil they were standing on. At one point, he sniffed the air, decided on a direction, and went on a sprint. Rayse decided to stay put in case he came doubling back, but was even more terrified when he returned, soaking wet with a raw fish between his teeth. Rayse didn't dare to move after that.

Eventually, the man had observed everything around the area, except for the "unconscious" boy before him.

"Stand. I know you've awoken. I have some questions." The man said calmly.

Rayse stayed still, not falling for the obvious bait. The crazy man just stared.

"Child, your eye has been darting back and forth for a while now.  Sit up and answer some questions of mine."

He stayed still, actually closing his eyes shut. The man continued to talk, as if Rayse staying still in any way constituted an agreement.

"What country is this? And what year? Is anyone living in this house? How can I get clothing?"

He rattled off questions one by one, each one proof of his insanity. Eventually, he said 'A-ha!' as if a sudden epiphany had come upon him. He lifted Rayse off the ground and put him on his back, and started walking towards the river. 

Rayse opened his eyes to see a half eaten fish on the ground, getting farther and farther away. This is it. This is how I die. Rayse despaired. Suddenly Brandon didn't seem so bad.