Unexpected Souvenir

Greece Mochi

The cool evening air gently brushes past you, and you wonder if one of the Anemoi are playing with your hair as they rush away. You wonder about Greek gods of the wind as you sit in some ancient ruins you had happened upon in Athens. Everything around you seems to remind you to ancient mythology.

The large Parthenon seems to glow white in the distance. You had been exploring the fascinating expanse of the Acropolis when a small, indistinct trail had caught your eye. It led somewhere you hadn't seen yet, so you decide to follow it. That's how you ended up sitting on some dusty ruins watching Apollo's fiery chariot sink past the darkening horizon to make way for Artemis's silver one.

Another breeze blows by you, and you wonder what it would be like to be an aurai, a nymph of the wind. It would be fun to whisper words in people's ears without being seen, then watching their confused expressions as they try to pinpoint where the sound came from. Your mind begins to wander off, and you almost don't notice something soft brushing up against your bare legs. A soft mew sounds from your feet, so you look down to see a gray cat staring up at you with bright yellow eyes.

"Awww, hey there, little guy." You reach down toward the fluffy cat. "Where did you come from, huh?"

It lets you carefully pick it up off the ground and set it in your lap. A low purring comes from the cat as you scratch it behind the ears, but its eyes seem to be keen and alert as if it's waiting for something to happen. Sure enough, a few minutes later, something else joins your quiet sanctuary in the ruins.

"Nekogoro, πού πήγες? (Nekogoro, where did you go?)"

A strange looking white object hops its way over to the carved stone you're sitting on. The thing has a lot of curly dark brown hair, which appears to look like cat ears, and has a distinct double hair curl poking up out of the top. Its green eyes look up at you with a sleepy expression, but they widen a bit at the sight of the cat in your lap.

"Γεια σας. Αυτή είναι η γάτα μου (Hello. That is my cat.)" it says.

"I'm sorry...uh...I don't speak Greek," you tell it apologetically.

The thing stares at you blankly. "Αυτή είναι η γάτα μου (That is my cat)," it repeats.

"I'm sorry, I only speak English."

It sighs. "How sad. Do you speak Japanese? Konichiwa, watashi wa Nekokichi-san desu. Anata wa Nekohana-san desu ka?"

"No, I don't speak that either," you say growing increasingly weirded out.

"Oh," is all that it says in return. The two of you sit in the moonlight in silence for a little while. "Do you like these ruins? I helped dig them up."

"Yes!" you answer, excited to have something normal to talk about. "They're amazing! I could sit here and look at this kind of stuff all day."

"I do that sometimes," the object says. "Usually I sleep too, or imagine what it would be like to be a cat. I think it would be fun to be a cat, don't you?"

"Uh, sure." Things have definitely become weird again. "So, what's your name?" you ask in an attempt to steer the conversation back into the realm of normality.

"My name?" It thinks for a while. "People call me Greece Mochi."

"Oh, I see-"

"My cats call me Nekogara, or sometimes they call me Nekopoko. I don't like that one so much."

"Uh..." You don't know how to respond to that. "Well, my name is (y/n). It's nice to meet you, Greece Mochi."

"Hmmmm, (y/n)." The mochi seems to ponder over your name. "It's not as nice as Nekoichi, but I might name my next cat that."

"I'm glad you like it," you say, taking it as a compliment. You scratch the gray cat's ears some more. "Are you a boy, Greece Mochi? You definitely sound like one."

The mochi stays silent for a long time. "Yes, I suppose you could say that I am," he says after a while.

You sit on the cold stones of the ruins and contemplate what has happened to you so far. No one is going to believe you when you tell them you met this talking whatever a mochi is. Maybe it's a mythical being. You'll have to look it up later.

"Have you heard the story of Narcissus?" Greece Mochi asks suddenly.

"I think so," you answer. "That's the one about a boy that stares at himself in a pond, right?"

"Yes. He was a very handsome young man that saw his own reflection in a pool of water and fell in love with himself," he recalls. "He eventually died and became a flower. You would call it a daffodil."

"Wow, that's kind of sad," you say. You feel a little sorry for Narcissus, even if he does sound like a bit of a loser.

"No, I think it's funny," the mochi says without a hint of humor in his voice.

"Oh..." You're so confused by what goes on in Greece Mochi's mind.

"Would you like to know why I told you that story?"

"Sure," you answer curiously.

"It's because you're pretty like Narcissus," he explains. "But I don't want you to turn into a flower."

A deep blush creeps up onto your cheeks. You're glad it's dark out, so hopefully the mochi won't notice. Being called pretty was the last thing you expected to hear from him.

"I bet you'd make even Aphrodite jealous of your looks," he continues.

"Shhhhh!" You put a finger up to your lips. "Don't say that or she might hear and turn me into something worse than a flower!" Your sudden outburst scares the gray cat off of your lap.

"Maybe you're right." A soft, hardly visible smile appears on Greece Mochi's lips, which lights up his whole face. "Nekogoro, where are you going?"

The cat in question is quickly padding away with its tail swishing high in the air. It turns around once to stare at you with its yellow eyes, then continues on it's way, away from the ruins.

"Are you going after your cat?" you ask the mochi. Disappointment colors your voice. You were starting to enjoy his company.

"Yes," he replies with a small nod. He turns his brilliant green eyes toward you intently. "I'll be here tomorrow if you want to talk some more. (Y/n) might not be a very interesting name, but I think you are a very interesting person."

"Oh...thank you, Greece Mochi," you say in embarrassment. "I'd like to talk some more, if you don't mind. I would love to hear more of your stories."

"Okay," the mochi says with a yawn. "I'll probably be sleeping. These ruins are great for napping."  He turns and starts to hop away after his cat.

You watch the mochi go until he's swallowed by the darkness. A third soft wind blows some of your hair around playfully and makes a whooshing sound as it goes. It carries a faint sound through the air, like a low meowing made by a certain mochi. You can't help but wonder if cats aren't the only thing Greece Mochi talks to.