Capítulo 8: Family (1)

"You know your way back to your room, right?" Dairon asked when they were done eating.

She nodded then mentally scolded herself for thinking of the room where she had slept the previous night as her room. Nothing in this mansion belonged to her, nor did she want any of it. It was merely because she had no choice that she could only spend the night there.

"Come, I'll show you to the places where I like spending my time. You can look for me if you need anything." He led the way.

Did she have to go? She wanted to go her way but decided to follow him. Who knows? She might just notice an escape route from one of the places he was about to show her.

Along one of the insanely long corridors, he opened a door that led to a large room with musical instruments. He let her step in before following her as she looked around. "This is my music room. I like to spend my time here, even though I don't know how to play any of these instruments. I only know how to play the sea."

She glanced at him when she heard his words, taking back the thought she had just had about finally seeing a place that looked humanly. It turned out that the expensive-looking grand piano, guitar, and violin were all for decoration.

She stalked towards the piano and tapped a key.

"Do you know how to play?" He asked, to which she shook her head.

She had never had a particular interest in music, she was only curious. On the other hand, her sister Dahlia was so proficient in the piano that she had won many awards at her tender age.

He didn't need to ask to know that she was thinking about her family again, the blank look in her eyes could explain it.

"Are you scared of me?" He asked in an attempt to change the topic.

She frowned at his audacity to ask such a question. If he was in her shoes, wouldn't he be scared?

She shook her head, even though he was not convinced. However, she would soon get over her fear, so he didn't dwell on it and led her out of the music room to the library.

"You like reading?" She asked when she saw the innumerable books on the shelves.

"I don't. But I spend my time here nonetheless. I guess you like reading?" He noticed her enthusiasm.

She rushed to a shelf and ran her fingers along a book with a golden-colored cover. "Can I?"

"Go ahead." He chuckled at her choice and was glad that she had finally taken interest in something.

She pulled the book out and before she could open it, she dropped it in panic.

"It suddenly scalded me! I felt as though a flame stabbed through my chest." She exclaimed in shock, and she wouldn't have explained what she felt if she was speaking to a human, otherwise someone would have thought of her as a crazy woman.

Dairon bent to pick the book and grinned in understanding. "It's a book about the gods of fire. I guess humans can't read it."

"Oh." She felt bummed. How she wished she could learn more about gods and demigods, especially how to kill or run away from one.

She was still trembling from the shock and she hugged her arms. "I'll go to sleep now."

He nodded and walked her back to the staircase, where he was certain that she would know her way back to her room.

She lay on the bed that was unfamiliar and strange, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. She tossed around in the thick covers but felt so cold that it was as though she was freezing.

Darting her eyes around, she saw that there was no wood in the fireplace and she didn't know where to get any. She wanted to ignore the cold and sleep, but her toes were so cold that it hurt. Did she have to ask Dairon for help turning on the fire?

Before the thought could fully register, a flame turned on in the fireplace. Without wasting a second, she shuffled out of bed and went to sit in front of it, feeling relieved when the warmth came in contact with her skin that had started to pale from the cold.

The door opened and in walked Dairon. "Are you having trouble with something? I could feel your restlessness from miles away."

She shook her head.

He closed in to sit beside her, placing his hand on hers and sighed in relief that she was getting warmer. "I figured you'd have trouble warming up the room but I forgot to do it for you. Does it feel better now?"

She nodded, and shook her head soon after. "Dairon, to tell you the truth, I'm scared." She confessed.

He was taken aback by her sudden confession, but he had expected it. She was in a foreign place which she had just learnt was not even in the human world, and she had to sleep in a foreign room on her own.

He glanced at her hands that were slightly trembling even though she was trying to hide it. "When I was little, I was a scared kid and would often have nightmares, so I was afraid of sleeping on my own. My mother would play me this song to help me calm down and sleep."

A soft tune started playing out of thin air, but after hearing it before, she knew that it was another song from the sea. It was slow and almost hypnotic, making her feel as though all her fear was fading. She even started feeling sleepy. She tilted her head to look up at him when she realized that she had almost nodded off. The flames illuminated his face, which she had to admit was handsome even though she didn't like him.

He turned to look at her when he felt her gaze, and she averted her gaze. "It's beautiful and thank you."

He nodded with a smile and they remained silent with the music still playing in their background. She was lost in thought while he sat beside her to keep her company before she fell asleep. Once in a while she would sneak glances and quickly avert her gaze when he caught her.

"Do you have something you want to ask?" He asked while holding back a laugh.

She nodded and decided to ask since she was curious anyway. "Where is your family?"

At first, she had thought that demigods didn't have families, as though they had simply come into existence out of thin air. It was only after hearing him mention his mother that she realized how silly her imagination had been.

It was definitely not what he had expected her to ask but it pleased him to know that she was starting to be curious about him.

"I'll take you to meet them later. For now, I can only tell you about them and show you paintings of them."

"Are their paintings inside this house?" She asked, hoping to see them right now if it was possible. It would help shorten the night which seemed to be long even though it had only just begun.

He nodded and stood up. Taking it as a cue, she stood and followed him to a different corridor, which she wouldn't know existed if he didn't show her.

He opened the door leading to a gallery which had paintings all over the walls and some rolled up and stored on the shelves, while some were still on easels.

He walked to the farthest part of the room and waved her over to show her a painting that looked slightly aged.

"This is my mother and father. This is my brother and this is me." He pointed at a middle-aged couple with a pair of boys standing in front of them. Even though the boys were young and looked to be only five or six years old, she could still recognize Dairon as the silver-haired boy on the left, with deep blue eyes.

"You look nothing like them." She observed that the other three had brown eyes and dark hair, and they looked nothing like demigods.

"I thought so too. They are humans." He explained, making her curiosity intensify.

"How is that possible? You were born of human parents, even though you are not human yourself?" She couldn't stop herself from asking.

"I thought so until I was old enough to comprehend it. I thought that I was a cursed kid, which is why I was different from my brother, who was supposed to be my twin." He didn't want to dwell on his past anymore. "I like to believe that my real mother gave me to a human when I was born."

It made more sense now. "She's a demigoddess?"

He touched the painting next to his family's, which was of a beautiful woman. Her eyes and hair were identical to Dairon's. She had a bright smile on her face and one could easily mistake her for his younger sister. She looked like a young woman who had just reached adulthood, which made it hard to believe that she was much older.

"Goddess Alaya." She read the name inscribed on the bottom part of the frame.

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