Confused screaming.
That was it- confused screaming.
Well, on the outside you were just speechless, but your inner tumult was far different. If you kept a blank mask on the outside, it was only to hide the fact that your brain had shifted into overdrive. You needed to figure this out. You needed to figure this out and you needed to do it NOW.
Athena... if you recalled the lessons from Adra correctly (as well as your memories from your Percy-Jackson-induced Greek Mythology phase from middle school), Athena was the goddess of wisdom and battle. But wait, there was NO WAY you were a CHILD OF ATHENA. Okay, fine, you had come to accept Taehyung as a weird, immortal, hot MESS of a demigod, but that did NOT mean that you could just casually take this as nothing.
Because there was no way you were part Greek god.
Both Taehyung and Adra were watching you carefully as you brought your fingers to your hair and tugged your lower lip into your mouth, gnawing on it in both distress and thought.
"You can see her thinking," Taehyung murmured, almost to himself, as if he couldn't quite believe it, "how is this even POSSIBLE?"
Adra scoffed. "You are incredibly dense, but what's to be expected from a son of Ares? You truly don't understand anything."
Taehyung shot her a glare, stone cold and dark, his face turning vicious and intimidating once more. Damn, he was scary when he wanted to be.
"Excuse me," you spluttered, looking between the two of them in incredulity, finally regaining your voice, "but what in good holy f*ck are you TALKING ABOUT?"
"There it is," the coffee-skinned sphinx muttered, which made Taehyung snort.
"I fail to see how you two think this is FUNNY," you spat, your shock making the anger bubbling up in you far more volatile, "and there is no way I'm a... good god, I don't even want to say this-"
"A demigod?" Taehyung finally shifted off from pinning your boss (or former boss? How could you bounce back from THIS disaster?) down, instead just opting to keep his sword close to her. His voice was amused, but his eyes were flinty, clearly struggling as much as you to accept this.
"Yeah, thAT," you hissed, tipping your head back and closing your eyes. It made absolutely no sense in your mind- you were still trying to piece things together, trying to understand what had made both Taehyung and Adra convinced in their claim.
I'm smart, I know, but that is NO REASON to go jumping to the conclusion that I'm a fricking CHILD OF ATHENA, goodness gracious.
Unless... is there something else?
There had to be. It didn't make sense that both of the supernatural beings in front of you were basing their assumption off the fact that you were smart- you knew you were. You had always been ahead of your class without even trying particularly hard, you read far too much for your own good, and you were a quick thinker. You knew all this... you were a logical person. Which is why when Taehyung had first showed up, you'd freaked out beyond belief, but when explanations and substantial proof had showed themselves, you'd begun to accept it.
Course', what else could this boy who doesn't know what a microwave is and who was stuck in a sword for a thousand years-
Wait.
WAIT.
Wait. Hang on. Didn't Taehyung say that his father AND Athena created the curse on his sword?
Your eyes flew open.
"Have you figured something out?" Adra began to pad a little closer to you, but was abruptly stopped by Taehyung flicking his wrist and swinging his bronze blade in front of her, shooting the sphinx a balant glare.
"DON'T go near her," he gritted out, which made you shoot him an exasperated look despite your internal crisis that was taking place at the moment.
Seriously? He was still being overprotective? It wasn't like you didn't know WHY- you two seemed to have mutually come to the conclusion that if something happened to you (like, if you happened to DIE), Taehyung would be sucked back into his sword. It made sense, honestly- if you had the power to let him out and send him back, then if you were gone, the strange loophole you'd created in his curse would be nullified.
That was the only reason Taehyung was acting like this.
But you'd be lying if you said it didn't effect you, at least a little bit.
"Taehyung, put your sword down," you sighed, rubbing your temple, "I think we've established that she's not going to hurt me."
"But-"
"TAEHYUNG."
At your sharp tone, the son of Ares clearly thought the better of arguing further with you in your stressed state and snapped his mouth shut, grumpily letting the tip of his sword fall to the floor, although he did shoot Adra a distrusting look.
Your boss raised an eyebrow and in half a moment, something sleek and tawny shot from her back and whacked Taehyung roughly across the chest, which made him stumble back in shock, nearly falling to the floor before he leapt back up, snarling, sword held in front of him again.
What in the world was that?
"Demigod, I've taken a liking to our dear Y/N," she said, her voice low and steady as she calmly padded out of range of Taehyung's sword, "but you are just another demigod. I have no obligation to YOU. So sit down before I do something I regret."
Wings, you realized. Adra had wings that had been previously flattened against her lion's back, the color only seeming like a couple of splotches before. But now they were flared, pretty and sleek and WIDE, perhaps in a sort of threat to the red-haired demigod before her.
"Taehyung, don't make things worse," you stepped forward, in between the two, who had fallen into a battle of glares. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't attack each other."
Adra looked at you, her eyes glinting with a cat's haughtiness that you often saw in them before but gave no mind to. "Sphinxes are one of the few monsters of Greek myth that do not attack unless provoked. But your son of Ares is insisting on doing exactly that."
"YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Taehyung burst out, roughly trying to shoulder past you to your boss, stopping only to glare furiously at you when you stepped in his way, your heart pounding and eyes pleading, "You can't expect me to believe that just because I've been gone for a while that now your kind and mortals fraternize as they will! I'm a killer, I'm a slayer, and Y/N, GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
You flinched at his rough roar, taking an uncertain step back.
For god's sake, is this guy not capable of chilling the heck DOWN for A MINUTE?
"Taehyung," you faced him fully, ignoring the urge to flinch at his harsh, furious glare that enhanced the carnage you always seemed to see in his irises. "Taehyung, calm down."
This boy was playful, he was flirty and irritatingly naive and absolute dirt at the same time- you hadn't expected him to be this terrifying when he was angry.
But now, as you tried to meet his eyes, you couldn't do so without becoming totally and utterly petrified.
This was ridiculous. He hadn't even said anything to you, and yet the clench of his jaw and the bloodlust that seared through his dilating, dark pupils made you want to hide your head in the floor like a f*cking ostrich.
Steeling every irrational nerve in your body that was telling you to run, you let your voice lower slightly; trying to turn the demigod's gaze away from the lazily watching sphinx behind you. "Taehyung, look at me."
And at the softness of your tone, surprisingly, his head turned and his eyes focused on you.
"That's a bad idea," he rasped out, his voice close to a feral growl as he clearly had an internal struggle to control himself. You didn't understand it- why was he so worked up over the smallest things, why was his so tense and stressed, why was he so damn ANGRY? "That's a terrible idea, pretty one, you don't protect someone from a thing like me."
A thing like me. He said the words with such revulsion and bitter laughter that you wanted to claw the tone out of your head. You honestly did not expect to have this deep, meaningful argument that would lead to a deep, meaningful conversation so soon, nonetheless in the museum you worked, right in front of your boss, but screw that, right?
The red-haired demigod's anger seemed to be a glaring firecracker, popping and exploding all over the place, far too much to remain unchecked as it romped inside him. But why? You didn't know.
You didn't know... except you were pretty sure you did.
After all... this boy was his father's son.
"Taehyung, you can blow up later," you tried to keep your voice steady and even as Taehyung's hot, heavy gaze landed on you. You couldn't distinguish what was anger in his irises and what was something else entirely as he stared at you as if Adra wasn't even there. "But just try and keep it together? Please? I... kind of really need to figure stuff out right now and... I know you don't trust her but the thing is, I do."
You didn't know what you were doing, you hardly paid attention to your ramble, all your could focus on were his eyes and his skin and his hair as he carried on staring, watching, fingers clenching and unclenching at his sides.
There was a heartbeat of loaded silence.
And then Taehyung stared at you for another moment, a glint in his eyes gleaming gray instead of gold for just a second, and then he turned away.
"As much as I enjoyed watching you and your boy toy argue-" you were too damn relieved to even care at the implication Adra threw into her words, "-I suppose you can't wait for your answers forever."
Your whole 'child of Athena' issue had been oddly forgotten because of Taehyung's explosive outburst (hang on was he SULKING right now-?), but now everything came rushing back like the tide coming back in, fast and hard. Slapping you in the face, really.
No milder alternative, huh?
"I can't be a child of Athena...hell, that sounds weird," you tried to assert, your face twisting into a grimace, your chest tightening at the words, "I have two perfectly normal parents and a perfectly normal little brother and I am nothing like Taehyung."
All fair points. But you had a sinking feeling that all your logic wouldn't be able to hide you from the truth.
"No," the elegant sphinx in front of you admitted, much to your surprise. She flexed her wings once before settling them back into barely-noticeable splotches on her back. "No, I doubt you're a full demigod. Athena doesn't really... fraternize with mortals any longer. I'd say you're second or third generation. At least one of your parents has her blood in them though, that's for sure."
"And how is that for sure?" you demanded, trying to prevent that world-class headache that was beginning to build in your temple from exploding.
Your boss chuckled at your firmly irritated expression. "Because Greek monsters can sense godly blood- you halflings always have the sweetest souls," you blanched at her offhand statement, her voice calm and friendly as she waved to you.
"Sweet-" you whispered, fear spinning through you before you tamped it down, "you know what, never mind."
"We monsters are just aides for you mortals to get to the Underworld quicker. We obey Hades when needed, but otherwise he just leaves us to our own devices to feed. Usually we make do with the occasional mortal soul, but we always have to leave a bit still in the body so it can be judged. You demigods have sweet souls, and we can sense them. The second you wandered into our vicinity, all the monsters here knew about you. It was only recently that your soul developed into its true form, and that is why last year I recruited you."
This was a lot of information- your head was starting to hurt again. But surprisingly, it only took you a few moments to process it before you slowly nodded. "To lure me into your lair and feed on my... soul."
That sounded so weird and wrong that you almost wanted to bite your words back. The hell? You didn't know this about Greek monsters... but then again, there were probably a lot of things you didn't know.
Adra nodded. "As you can see, though, that didn't go as planned. I didn't know you were a child of Athena until you thwarted every single one of my attempts, and by then, I'd grown attached to you. And so I staked my claim on you so no other monster would try. And I'm the most powerful one in the vicinity, so you were then safe."
"The harpies, though," you muttered after a moment of silence, of processing, half to yourself, "The harpies attacked me anyway, after you sent me out with the sword."
Adra's eyebrows raised slightly. "Did they? Well I suppose... it may have been because of that sword. I could feel the aura of Ares on it, but I didn't suspect it would contain his child. In any case, the harpies may have just wanted that sword, as they're scavengers that collect magical items, but when they realized you were god-blooded, they couldn't resist."
You let out a long breath. You still couldn't quite come to terms with that fact that you were, as Adra said, 'god-blooded'. Turning you hand over, you watched the veins in your wrist jump lightly.
My blood can't be divine, or magic, or whatever this all is. It's just not possible- I've been a normal child my entire LIFE, I know my entire family... how could this even happen?
"I suppose I need to hunt those harpies down, though," Adra sighed loudly, shaking her head as she turned away from you, "I did say that you were my territory to protect you. They can't get away with thi-"
"You think they did?"
Taehyung's deep voice cut through Adra's words. Your eyes fell on him to see him leaning against a display case, his head tipped back slightly. He fixed Adra with a chilling grin, laughter beginning to bubble from his lips.
Adra turned to him with a blank expression. "What?"
"They are all dead," Taehyung casually flipped his sword over in his palm, smirking, but his gaze was now on you, "All gone, sent back to Tartarus. They never touched Y/N."
The silence that followed was odd, tense and chilling.
"Demigod, if this is your way of threatening me-" Adra hissed, her fingers tapping the gash on her arm that was just beginning to subside in its bleeding.
"I am just stating a simple truth," Taehyung chuckled, everything in his form now radiating cockiness and calm, a full 180 to his unhinged behavior just a few minutes ago, "and I am warning you."
You sighed.
Did he HAVE to be this annoying?
Adra let a long breath of air hiss out from between her teeth and turned away from him, her tail swishing agitatedly from side to side as she did so, although her face was a mask of calm. "I do not blame him for acting this way- he's been gone for many years, trapped in that thing, I presume, and he fails to understand that we monsters no longer run unchecked. We're careful in our dealings with mortals- an occasional disappearance, or mysterious death here and there, but we don't make ourselves openly known. Hades would have our hides if we did."
This seemed to catch the red-haired demigod's attention, and he pushed himself off the glass display case, eyes narrowed. "What is it that you're saying? Why would your kind agree to something like that? You used to be common nuisances-"
"And I am telling you that if mortals figured out that we existed, it would make the job of the gods much harder. Their puny minds cannot comprehend the scale of the world that they are living in. They've all but turned their backs on the legends of the gods, dismissing them as myths. As a result, we are forced to go into hiding so the gods can do their jobs without the entire mortal world going into mass panic. We didn't so much as agree as we were forced into it. Calm yourself. We are still monsters, but now we must stay in check,"
Adra's odd explanation made you all the more inquisitive, though. Taehyung seemed to still be absorbing this information, his jaw working and his eyes distant and confused, but you wanted to find out more.
"So the Greek gods... and the monsters from myth... they're still out there?" you asked quietly.
The shpinx in front of you hummed in affirmation. "They've become slightly bitter that mortals have turned their backs on them, but yes, they still exist. Explosions, diseases, freak accidents, freak miracles even, sometimes- where do you think they all come from? Your ridiculous human explanations are only there because the existence of this other world you've forgotten is hidden."
You let out a loooooong breath.
Well then.
"Ah," you muttered, "Okay."
"It's a lot to take in, I'm aware," Adra flicked you with her sleek, tawny tail sympathetically, "but at least now you know."
"I can't believe that my entire life... ugh f*ck this," you groaned, "do my parents know? Is my little brother a... child of Athena too?"
Adra's brow furrowed. "I do not know. These answers... you must find them yourself."
"I'm not immortal, right?" you asked.
"No, you're not first generation, so I doubt it. But gods have been known to bestow gifts on demigods who please them, so-"
You sighed in relief before she even started her second sentence. Was it still possible for you to return to your normal life after this?
With a glance at Taehyung, who was watching you with an unreadable expression, your lips twisted up dryly.
Yeah, I don't think so.
"Now that you've begun to understand the situation..." Adra followed your gaze to the red-haired demigod, who raised an eyebrow challengingly (f*ck that was hot- NO Y/N STOP), "...let's talk about that sword."
A/N: I'm sorry for the boring, information-laden filler chapter, I swear I'll try to make the next one more exciting! I hope you guys get a bit more about this world, though, I tried to make it as understandable as possible haha... tell me what you think!