Ed would have guessed it was evening when he showed up at the Inn by the way lights played across the room. When he woke up again, he was still in his clothes laying on top of the bed. It was a decent mattress, comfortable in a rustic sort of way. It wasn't one of those goosedown mattresses but lumpy in the way that supported what it was supposed to.
Rennish was leaning back in the chair by the table with his legs spread across the table. He was a bit more real today. He was playing a soft song on what must have been the world's tiniest piano of some kind. Rennish saw Ed wake up and look at him and his instrument.
"I hope I didn't wake you. It's about 11 am the day after yesterday. You've been asleep and I've been playing and exploring. Amazing little town. They call this a "keyboard" in some other world. I find it most amusing." He said still tinkling away on the keys.
Ed sat upright slowly and stretched. Every joint in his body made a noise, almost two days of sleep will do that to you. The first thought in his head was about getting something to eat. Ed wasn't starved when he got here but now, he felt as if he could eat through the leather of his own boots. He leaned over and grabbed his boots and got ready to put them on when Rennish sat up, put the instrument back in its bag, and leaned over towards me with his hands on the edge of his knees. "We need to handle a few things first."
Rennish pulled out a small scroll of his own with what must have been a checklist. "Ysennia gave me something to do to help you out. First off, she tells me that your image has been changed to anyone who doesn't know your real name. So that means we must find you a new name. Besides Ed doesn't really scream glamorous adventurer does it?" He waved his hand as a flourish to his own statement.
"Also," He continued, putting his hand down and lifting the scroll up higher. "I am to tell you that unless you command it, I am to stay hidden from the world. I am to follow your orders; I only interfere when whatever you are doing puts the god's realms in danger and otherwise I am to help you fulfill whatever your dreams are."
"A name..." Ed muttered...
Rennish held his finger up to his mouth and made the universal quiet sign. "Shut up you fool! I am the only one who can't be heard. If you must talk, look at me and THINK the words and I will hear them! You don't want others to see you talking to yourself. That's how you get mugged and sent to the local hospital or branded a warlock!"
Ed didn't think about that. Magic is limited. He had been exposed to so much recently that his sense of normal was slightly skewed. Really most of the "miracles" were just world-class magic. Amazing to think how simply the world really worked in a very complex sort of way.
"How about Erust? Sound's strong, foreign, and dignified?" Ed thought to Rennish. Ed was remembering an old childhood friend of his with that name and it felt like sort of a way to honor him.
"Not what I would have picked but it works. It also explains the E on your bag. But as you were thinking the letter on the bag changed so you could be more creative. You know Lord Carlisle Von Knapsack or something..." he said with a smile on his face.
Ed groaned to himself, "Oh that's totally better than Erust..." Ed rolled his eyes and finished putting on his shoes.
"Erust is fine, it's a friend's old name and no one will ever suspect it's me." He stomped his foot the last of the way into the boot and grabbed the bag to walk downstairs. He opened the satchel and put his fingers in the coin purse. The two gold coins had been replaced with a gold and silver coin this time. Ed had not used them both, so he guessed it didn't feel the need to give two new ones.
The magic had put him on a budget. Ed still had one gold from last time though. So, he decided to make a point to spend both somehow. And to make sure it doesn't punish him for spending on things other than housing and food.
They left the room and walked down the stairs. A few people were enjoying a mid-day meal already in the small little dining area. As Ed walked to the owner, who was seated in the exact same place Ed had left him more than 30 hours ago. The owner stood up and walked over. "Well look who's finally awake! You were tired, I hope you don't mind I peeked in to make sure you hadn't died. You hum in your sleep or something because it sounded like music."
"Oh, I've been told that before..." Ed lied again trying to cover for Rennish. "Better than snoring I guess..."
He laughed, "True enough! My name is Oscar and that is my wife Lily in the diner."
"I am Erust," Ed said putting his hand out. Oscar shook it quickly before pulling out a ledger to write Erust's name in next to Ed's room and put down the number of days Ed had paid.
"I am going to get a meal here in a moment, but is there a merchant in town I can see for supplies later?" Ed said trying to look around for a map of the area.
"Oh yeah, that would be Plim you're looking for. He's up about two and a half blocks towards the outskirts of town. You can head there after you eat! I will get you a special. It's my favorite, and to be honest the best thing she makes." Oscar said, the last part he said quietly to try and keep his wife from hearing. He walked into the dining room and seated Ed near a window before walking away to tell his wife to get two specials for some reason.
The meal was a sort of cream-based soup with several root vegetables and spiced meat in it. With a chunk of bread and a large glass of sweet watered-down mead, the meal was complete. Ed wondered why Oscar brought out two plates. He couldn't see Rennish, and Rennish didn't eat. Ed ate both of the plates as he was still starved from whatever they had done to freeze him in place.
When Lily came back to collect the plates, she looked at Ed confused, "Didn't you come in with a friend? I swear I saw him a moment ago from the back of the room."
"Oh uh, yes a person was here but he just left. I just met him walking into town, at the chapel when I stopped for a brief rest. We were talking about him working for me possibly."
"Oh..." she said like that had explained it all. Ed had the feeling he could have told her she was dying and seeing spirits and she would have been okay with that too. Oscar and his wife were both advancing in age. They weren't so old as to be considered elderly but still very vibrant and active. Lily was matronly but kind, Oscar had that look like your favorite uncle, with the bald spot and rosy cheeks and a laugh that put you at ease. The kind of people you want to meet at an inn.
As she walked away still trying to think why she had seen the man and where he went without noticing, Ed looked over at Rennish and thought. "I could tell them anything and they'd believe it right when it comes to you."
"It's a form of divine magic. I am assigned to you, therefore, much like the magic that binds your soul to this world and that body, there is the same kind of magic that binds my spirit to yours. Very loosely, yes you can explain to me however and I will appear as you describe. Or you can do like you said and explain me away and they won't see me anymore. Or in rare cases, you can allow me to take possession and I will move your arms, legs, and mouth and be 'you' for a moment." He explained.
"Oh, that sounds horrible. Do I switch places with you?" Ed thought before he could stop himself.
"Not at all," Rennish said laughing at the sheer sudden force of my reply. "You are still there and can force me out. It's a bit like being drowsy and feeling like you are in your body but covered in cotton. It only works when you allow it and I am not allowed to force it."
Ed sopped up some of the soup with the leftover bread crust. "How long was I out Rennish?"
"Do you mean asleep or before they turned the world back on?"
"What do you mean, turned the world back on…" Ed was very confused.
"It took a while for everything to get set up for you to come back. Your new face had to be made. People's memories had to be altered. They had to move you. I thought you noticed that they froze the world for a while during your conversation."
Ed thought back, that explained why the world moved. He thought it was something more divine than just having his whole world frozen for a while.
"The whole world was on pause, well the people and higher-level creatures were to be exact. The rest of the world carried on for a bit while the rest slept peacefully." Rennish smiled like this explained everything.
"Okay," he continued. "So Ed, what do you really, really, really want to do." He wiggled his eyebrows hoping for something a little less than honorable.
"I really don't know, I was trying to find love before when I was struck down with a cart full of orphans," Ed said.
Rennish suppressed a laugh but failed. The noise was loud enough that a few people looked at their direction wondering why Ed was laughing. He pulled out the napkin from the table and blew his nose as if he had sneezed. That was the first thing Ed could think of to do. Again, it worked as an excuse.
"Talk about an epic way to die. They still haven't told me how they got you out of that little fiasco." Rennish said leaning over the table, head in one hand and peering around like he was looking for trouble or someone or both.
"Go over to that mirror above the mantle and look. But don't make a noise when you do. You still haven't seen your new face." He said waving Ed off nonchalantly like a fly. The urge to see what he was talking about was strong, so Ed walked over to act like he was going to smooth his hair.
What he saw was shocking. Ed was plain to begin with, Average hair, Average Face, Average build, average height. Slightly more muscular than most because of the smithing but nothing amazing. This face was slightly more... Slightly more than average, slightly more than muscular. Nothing that would stand out but slightly more sincere looking also. And if Ed stared and looked really hard, squinted his eyes and looked past himself... he could see his face underneath. It was his spirit. The body was different than before, but his spirit was still Ed and he could see that when he concentrated. Ed sat back down and sipped a glass of brewed tea he had bought for himself as a treat.
"How strong is your magic," Ed said to him.
"I am a lesser spirit. I don't rival Golliad or Ysennia, I was tasked with creations. Art, music, theater. This world lacks any significant culture to speak of. My failure of advancing the arts probably helped in the decision to give me to you as a guardian and as a tutor of sorts. As god's creation, and as a creator myself, they thought maybe I could help you grow by helping you see the world as more than a thing but a piece of art. A play of folks, walking, and talking and standing for their roles. You will find your spot in the great play if you look and if I help you." he said winking.
"Oh, that explains the theatrics then... So, if I asked you play here, you'd whip out an instrument and just play till I said stop? That seems cruel even to a spirit."
"Maybe, but maybe I feel fulfilled when you do. I have been in the world between worlds for so long I have forgotten smaller human emotions. I have the uplifting feelings that the arts and music gave me, but shame, humility, and fear are gone. I don't sleep, I don't desire food, I don't lust after women or men as long as I am a spirit." He said smiling almost proud to announce that he was much less restricted than most people.
"And I can order you around and you won't say no because you feel no regret then. It's not on you..." Ed thought leaning back in the chair hit by the enormity of the situation.
"Oh relax. I won't do anything to get you chased out of town... too often." Laughing to himself. Keep this bard on a short leash, Ed thought to himself. And Ed didn't realize how short it would need to be. The miracle magic had brought him back, miracle magic was keeping him here and miracle magic was flowing around us both. Ed was tuned into it and it was flowing through him. It was also leaking too as he was soon to find out.