Humans are so fragile. Aleph thought as he set the boy down close to the river. His eyes were shut, but he had a pained expression.

It's not that he won't talk. It's that he can't.

He dove into the water once again and caught a fish. It went much smoother this time as he remembered to hold his breath. 

He returned to find the youth running away.

?

He sprinted to cut him off, offering him the fish that he caught.

"Ah, good, you have awakened. Have some fish to recover your strength. Not to worry, I had some myself and it should be edible. I can get some more if you require more nutrition. We will talk once you've recovered." The youth  just stared. He took the fish with shaking hands.

"Th-thank you."

Aleph gave him time to eat, but the youth just continued to stare, not making any move to eat.

"What's the matter? Do you not need food to recover from your wounds?"

"Y-yes, but I would need to cook this first."

Ah, I've forgotten about that. Aleph looked around for some kindling, but the youth stopped him.

"Sir, you're wet from your swim so you'll get the firewood wet as well. You should go catch some more fish." The youth offered.

And so the two shared a meal together. Once he was calmer, the youth actually had much to say.

He was called Rayse. He was a stablehand from the town down the road called Hios. He came here to pick up his master's son Brandon, who had been using the abandoned house as a base of sorts. He had his eye on Lacey, their childhood friend, and was jealous of Rayse's closeness with the girl.

Aleph sat and listened to Rayse ramble on. It became increasingly clear that this planet is different from the one he knew. At the very least, it was far more primitive.

The boy stayed for a while before he made to leave, but promised to return soon. It suited Aleph just fine. He had much to do himself, and felt satisfied at the amount of information he's gathered.

He decided to stay in this town for a while. It would be convenient to live on the outskirts, and he was concerned about the portal. He abandoned his realm, but was still loathe at the idea of anyone coming to disturb his comrades' graves. He decided to live in the abandoned house for now, until he can secure it.

Aleph spent some time back inside the hole where the portal was to disguise it the best that he could. He discovered that a few faintly glowing stones had shown up down there, likely a reaction to the portal's ambient energy.

It's not much, but it'll do.

Millenia spent recreating his comrade's weaponry gave Aleph a knack for creating magical items. He lacked a lot of reagents for now, but he felt that he could fashion useful items with the things inside the house.

He decided to cover up the hole in some shrubbery for now, and spent the rest of the time getting his "home" ready. The inside was surprisingly already cozy. It seems the boy named Brandon and his cronies had already brought much of what he needed, like cots and a lantern. 

He was rummaging around the old cupboards when Rayse arrived with some clothing and another person he didn't know.

"Please wear this, sir. I've brought my friend too, she said she would be happy to help." He said politely.

A while later, Aleph came out to greet his guests fully clothed. He was surprised how much they lessened the chill he was feeling. I need to get used to this, he thought to himself. "He bowed at the young lady with Rayse and introduced himself.

"Greetings, child. I am Aleph." He said curtly.

"Hello, mister. My name is Lacey, a friend of Rayse. I thank you for what you've done for him this morning." She returned his bow and handed him a basket of food.

"A lovely name, Lacey." Aleph said appreciatively. He set down the basket and began to tell the tale of her namesake, whose staff commanded the storms and defended humanity from hordes of demons. Whose sharp intellect was as quick as her smile. She radiated kindness, braving the frontlines even though she was a key target. His reminiscence brought him joy, a feeling he had not felt in a while. His audience was enraptured, as if living the story themselves. They applauded.

"I didn't know I was named after someone so famous." Lacey marvelled.

"She was a friend of mine. One of the bravest people I've ever met."

Aleph felt himself smiling. It felt strange, like an old sword that he picked up on a whim, but still fit in his hand perfectly.

"What happened to her?" Aleph heard her say, and suddenly, his smile dropped like a lie. He was back in the battlefield, looking helplessly on from the ground as her friend was gored by an arch demon's wicked horn. Lacey tried to summon the storm one last time, to take the demon to the afterlife with her, but three more flew from different directions to finish her off. The battle was still won, but no one celebrated that evening.

"She…she's gone." was all he could manage.

"I am tired, please come back another day." Aleph said, returning inside.

__________________________________

"So, what did you think?" Rayse said probingly.

Lacey stopped walking and turned back at her friend. "About mister Aleph? He's definitely not crazy. A tad strange, maybe. And more than a little lonely. I like him."

Rayse nodded in agreement. The fact that he thought Aleph would harm him was laughable in retrospect. His concern was surprising at first, but Rayse saw the man for what he was.

They resumed their walk back into town.

"I think he's a war veteran. He might have fled a prison camp from somewhere. Well, he didn't seem very dangerous." Lacey continued.

"He can certainly fight and fend for himself. He just has trouble dealing with people, I think."

"Either way, he didn't have any slavers brand or anything, so it should be fine if we let him stay there for a while. Still, it's quite the coincidence don't you think? Him being friends with a Brandon and a Lacey?"

"Ahhh, I dunno. You guys' names are pretty common." Rayse said, immediately jumping out of the way as Lacey tried to smack him from behind.

"Hah, I knew you would do that! Hehe." He said smugly.

Lacey laughed along with him for a time. She then grew silent, introspective.

"Why don't you fight back? You know Brandon's not gonna stop, right?" She said quietly.

"Sigh, It's fine, I can take it. He has done so much for both of us, you know? It's just that his father had been riding him hard lately."

"How can you smile like that? Are you really fine with him taking me away?" Rayse just laughed at that.

"Psh, as if. You're even stronger than I am! In fact, I'd love to see him try!" This time he couldn't dodge the slap to his back. It sent tingles down his spine.

"Yeowch! See? Case in point!" He teased, but Lacey wasn't having it. He sobered up and looked into her eyes.

"You need to have a little more faith. Our Brandon's still in there somewhere, looking out for us. He hasn't come close since you dumped him, right?"

"I suppose." Lacey conceded. 

"I wish he would so I can kick his ass, though. Really, you're spoiling him too much. You and him used to fight each other all the time, and then turn around and beat up the bigger kids when they gang up on us littler ones. Wonder what made him change so rapidly?"

Rayse had been thinking about that for a while. "There's been a cloud over their heads since auntie died, and he's been rebelling lately because of it. I heard that his father wants to send him to the city to further his studies, too. Poor guy's under a lot of stress."

"Well whatever he's going through, I hope we can snap him out of it. He's been avoiding me, so I can't really do much. You need to step it up."

"Will do." They stopped at a corner. Their paths diverge from here.

"I still say you should give him a good punch to the face though." She leaned and planted a kiss on Rayse's cheek.

"I'll consider it." Rayse just laughed it off.

"So, you gonna go visit Aleph tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I think I should bring him some scissors. The wild man look isn't really helping his reputation as a crazy person. How about you?"

"Nah, I've got work. Plus, I might make him remember his friend or something. I'll go see him after a few days."

"Mmm, good idea. Well, see you tomorrow Lace." Rayse pulled her in for a hug. He was so lucky to have her, but that just makes him miss the three of them hanging out like the old days.

I've got to do something about that, too. He thought as he bade Lacey goodnight and walked home.