Their trip was cut short by the early closing time. Night was still longer than the day and it was already so cold outside that people could only imagine how it got once it darkened. Of course, there were houses and restaurants that they could enter but Fei had to return in time for her night job. They were in the bus when Dohyun checked the photos. It was such a discrepancy between how Fei looked with a smile and with a frown.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked while watching the passing scenery.
"I got everything I needed and even more. What about you?"
She sighed and turned to look at him.
"We should have stayed and eaten there."
She was so honest and simple in such stuff that it made Dohyun laugh. It really has been a great day for him and he hoped she had fun too.
"Is that archery memory the only one you remember so vividly?" She asked after a short pause.
"Ah, not really. I remember all of them in great detail." He answered more bothered with his camera rather than that subject.
"Doesn't that worry you at all? You shouldn't remember the memories of someone you haven't met." She said emphasizing what was important.
"Well, it isn't under my control but you don't have to worry. I'm not going to use that in my webtoon. The story is loosely based on your life but I did come up with my own, original, plot."
"I do worry because you are a very odd man. Besides, what you remember has no relation to you. At all. You have no ancestor that was even a friend of Munjong, or any other royalty for that matter." She started fully turning to explain him the situation. "Look, Dohyun, I told you before that nobody except me and ocassionally Hades can use the lance. A human cannot even see it, so for sure he cannot hold the lance or use it to kill bad spirits. Moreover, the lance doesn't hurt humans but when I checked, you had a burn mark on your chest exactly where I stabbed you. That is not normal."
"What do you mean?" He asked putting the camera in his backpack.
"I think that something must have happened at one point or another that transfered some of my powers into you. Or maybe something completely different happened and that itself is very bad."
"The warehouse was-"
"The warehouse exists outside time. It's a place where humans cannot enter. You had to be in a deep sleep during that time and yet you woke up, met Pirape and even ventured through the lanes." She said sounding genuinely bothered by everything.
"So I'm not human?" He asked still not fully understanding how serious his issue was.
"No. You are human. But I must have done something to you unconsciously. Maybe when I healed you but I healed others before and nothing happened. I don't even know." She said and leaned back crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"I'm not bothered by it, if it makes you feel better. I'm not worried either."
"But you should be. Those furies came for you, having already sensed that something was amiss. Someone very powerful sent them after you, to capture you and there are very few people who can do that..." she said frowning as an idea struck her. But that was impossible.
"But they didn't. I'll stick close to you so they won't return."
He smiled boyishly, knowing well what he was implying.
"You understand only the information you want. There is a lot more." Fei said feeling unhappy with him.
But Dohyun was happy that she cared enough to get angry. He leaned next to her and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly just in case she would push him away.
"Why don't we date then? Officially?"
"Have we even dated unofficially until now?" She asked not believing how bold he was. His confidence was striking.
"Then do you agree? Do you want to date me? To keep an eye on me, of course."
"Of course." She said narrowing her eyes at him. "Only to keep an eye on you, sure."
But that was enough for the boy. He already received more than he expected in one lucky day.
Dohyun's apartment was closer to the subway than the library so it did look like Fei took him home. They stood there, facing each other with an awkward atmosphere.
"Well, then, it was a nice trip." She said not knowing what else to do.
"Do you...want to come in?" He asked feeling like he was blushing 10 different reds.
Fei raised an eyebrow but nodded.
Dohyun entered first and he was happy that he didn't leave a mess in the apartment before he left. It wasn't squeaky clean either but it was decent for a single man living alone.
"Do you want something? Water or something?"
"I'm hungry."
"Right." He said and went to search for ramyun. He found it quickly and it probably took him less than normally to cook it.
"Sit here." She ordered patting the spot next to her. She was waiting on the floor and seemed to be thinking about a lot of things. "I need to check something." She added.
Dohyun put the ramyun aside and sat next to her. She turned so that they were facing each other.
"Give me your hand." She said and he immediately put it on hers. Fei chuckled bemused by how innocent he seemed. "Now close your eyes."
He complied with everything until he felt her hand on his left eye. That was when he got a headache and slapped her hand away.
"I said it before and I will say it again. I do not want you to erase any of my memories." He said in a serious and offended tone.
"These are not your memories. You will get confused if you keep thinking about someone else's feelings and experiences."
"That's not your choice. I want to keep Munjong's memories. They are precious to me and to you. Don't you want to know what he felt and what he thought?"
"You believe my love to be too big, Dohyun. I am not represented by only those three years I have lived in the palace. I had a life before that drama happened and I went through worse stuff than a heartbreak. You asked me before why I showcase the arrow. It's not out of sorrow for my first love but because I was free until then. That arrow is the gap between who I was and who I became after regeneration. I had the world at my feet, I was rich and adventurous and I loved traveling. I sacrificed a lot for those things and I fought every day for centuries in order to be able to live the way I wanted to. And then, so easily, it was all taken away. Do you think I don't miss my original appearance? The way I look now was created out of need not because I had a choice. So yes, that arrow reminds me that I was important once and I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted to do and say whatever I wanted to say, and even lie."
Dohyun watched her silently. He hadn't thought just how deeply she was considering her status in the supernatural society. She mentioned before how she felt like a slave but he never took that too seriously.
"I am more than a heartbroken nymph and those memories of Lee Hyang don't show that. They show only a gram of who I was back then. I knew I had to leave at some point, I just didn't expect that I will be wounded by a human after fighting for so long in bloody wars against more dangerous enemies. So whatever reason you have for keeping these memories, whatever thought you have that maybe they will help you, they are wrong."
"I still want to keep them." He said seeing how she was on the verge of errupting.
She rolled her eyes and got up.
"I have to go. I need to work." She mumbled in a rush and was gone in a blink.
Dohyun remained in his seat, not able to move or speak. She was right, he didn't consider her opinion in any of his endevours. He only saw her as a heartbroken nymph, a fragile woman that could break in tears when visiting the folk village and remembering her past. But she wasn't a child. She was older than him and she was a strong woman.
The short way to Ethos felt a lot longer for Fei now that she had enough time to think about everything she told Dohyun. But there were so many more issues that she didn't touch with him and he couldn't (or more likely he didn't want) to aknowledge that whatever was happening to him was not a joke.
However, when she got the key out in order to unlock the library, she noticed it was already open. Her whole demeanor changed and her whole expression fell into one of a professional. As she walked inside, she first saw that all the books were thrown around, indicating that someone has been searching for something. However, it didn't look like they went upstairs. The lights were still off, he probably didn't need to turn them on in the first place, and nothing else was touched, not even the cashing register. They didn't break in, they didn't steal anything considered expensive or money. She passed the little space between the cashier and the office. Fei noticed that the door was cracked open, which meant whoever entered did not bother to close it on his way out. But it also meant whoever stepped inside did not come from the Afterlife but from the streets of Seoul. Pushing it for a clear view, she felt her eyes narrow and her chin tense. Her laptop was thrown off the desk, books were everywhere, documents were spread on the desk messily and the small bookcase that held important information was empty. In that chaos, Fei raised her hand and waited. Nothing came. Nothing happened. They found it.
"Fuck."
That evening, Horace was peacefully arranging some new found historical books, one which was a journal recalling a supernatural meeting between an egyptian priest and a god. He did not expect to be called out by Fei and to be asked to bring the surveillance tape of that day.
"What am I searching for?" He asked once she arrived in the library. Of course, his form in the human world was one of an incredibly tall man in classic librarian outfit.
"Just play it. I'll know when I'll see him." She replied in a bossy tone that Horace rarely heard. He could feel something was wrong from the way her eyes darkened.
Nothing major appeared on the screen. The library was closed for the day so from the moment she left, nobody entered and nobody walked out. That, until a familiar face with a key of his own walted in as if it was his home. He first made a mess, walked in circles around the arrow with a sigh and then went inside her office. He walked out just a few minutes with a very precious book under his arm.
"What the-what did I just watch?" Horace asked still not believing his eyes. "How could he-"
"Don't tell Minjae and definitely not Hades. I can play detective without outside help." She said rubbing her eyes. She was hungry and tired, which was strange in itsef.
"Why do you think he stole that? It's precious information isn't it?"
"It's the Soul Registry. It's my copy. The other one is in Death's office." She said very slowly as she rewinded the video. "This is so odd. He never acted out so why now? Is this why he has been so busy lately?"
"Why would Icarus steal the Soul Registry? He risks going back to the underworld for this. And we both know Hades doesn't give second chances."
"Many weird things have been happening..."
Fei was not wrong. From Lee Dohyun's inhuman traits to rebelling repears and to one of her friends/workers stealing from her, it was all just building up to something even greater. If she were to guess, such a devoted son as Icarus wouldn't risk his perfectly happy life for just anybody.
"Daedalus. He may be doing it for his father." Fei whispered not yet sure of her theory. But Horace seemed outraged.
"Daedalus?! He's in the labyrinth! And we both know what else is there!"
"The minotaur, yes. But the labyrinth is the same as the warehouse, outside time and space so if he wants to free his father, he needs someone very powerful. Someone like a god." She added, her mind trying to connects all the dots.
"Do you think that's what he's doing? Trying to bring back a god? But which one?"
"I don't know." She suddenly had a flash of Dohyun's glass eye when she stabbed him and all the weird things that have been linked to him. "Maybe Ares?"
"But you need a human host and you need a strong believer for that to happen. Besides, we both know if Are was to return, you were the first to know. He could use you for that. Of course, he'd break you and kill you but you know how unapologetical he is." Horace mumbled knowing his words were heavy. Fei treasured her immortal life more than anything in the world.
"But the furies didn't attack me. They wanted someone else..."
Well, wasn't that a total disaster. If Ares wanted to force his return to the world, Dohyun seemed like the best bet.
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