Neris realized it a split second too late. She had let her annoyance bubble over and had slipped slightly into her Harpy form. In a normal case, her eyes would have been completely out. However, due to the side-effects of the Strophalos, her Harpy eyes were more unsettling.

Crimson red veins were spidered through the obsidian black hues, coming to the center where her iris – normally hidden when in that state – became almost the exact same color of an orange bell pepper, bright and unsettling against the dark background.

She blinked rapidly, clearing the discoloration from her eyes, and cleared awkwardly.

“Sorry,” she gave a guilty smile. “I have a bit of a temper problem. Anyways, like I said, this house is Switzerland. There will be no fighting in this house or in the front or back yard. Do you understand me?”

They nodded dazedly, detangling themselves from one another and shuffling to their respective sides.

“Good,” she continued, her voice remaining soft and calm. “Now, for the hunters. I’ve already offered my services as a healer to the wolves, and in the interest of keeping things fair, I will do the same thing for you.”

There were noises of protests from the wolves, but a stern look from Neris shut them up quickly.

“Now, will you all do me a favor and get out of my house?” She smiled sweetly at the twelve boys, though they were all aware of the venom that lurked underneath. As they were guests in her home, and didn’t want to break away from a potential ally, they wordlessly exited the house casting dagger-laced glares at one another.

|||

Stupid werewolves. Stupid hunters. Neris couldn’t focus on her homework, and math was her weakest subject.

She tried her best to concentrate, but in the back of her mind she had the nagging sensation that there would be yet another interruption to her attempts to be normal.

As if on cue, a rapping on the glass of her window caught her attention, Himchan flashing a smile from his crouched spot on her roof.

“Himchan, what are you doing here?” Neris asked as she pulled the window open. “Though, I will admit, I’m thankful that you’re wearing clothes this time.”

“I just wanted to return this to you,” he told her, handing her the bestiary she had lent him.

“You know, you could have just given this to me at school tomorrow,” she gave a low chuckle, taking the bestiary from him and tossing it on her bed.

“I know, but there’s less chance you’d try to avoid me if I came here,” he admitted, slipping through the open window into her room.

Neris blinked a couple times, digesting what he had said. “You know, I’m sure that sounded romantic or whatever in your head, but out loud it sounds a little creepy.”

He gave a small laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t intend to sound creepy. Truth be told, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Her head cocked to the side in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Those hunters,” he expounded. “They’re dangerous.”

“Himchan, I’ve dealt with hunters before. I can take care of myself.”

“You’ve dealt with human hunters before, am I right?” He wondered, and she nodded in response. “These hunters aren’t human. They’re Men of the Samjok-o; they’re born hunters.”

Neris was silent, staring at Himchan blankly.

“Samjok-o,” he repeated. “The –”

“No, I know what it is,” she cut him off. “The three-legged crow, a symbol of the sun, a highly regarded symbol of power thought superior to both the dragon and the Korean phoenix. Yeah, I know.” She pointed to the leather-bound tome. “It’s in the book. I’ve just never heard of the ‘Men’ of the Samjok-o.”

“They’re hunters, but they’re…more than human.” Himchan explained. “They were given their powers by a magically gifted being that wanted to keep the supernatural from growing too large in number.”

“So, they’re more like population control than hunters. But I don’t get why – ”

“That thing you can do, that ‘male mental manipulation’ thing, it won’t work on them.” Himchan went on. “They’re immune to any creature’s powers. I doubt even a siren song would work on them. You need to be careful, Neris. You saved Junhong and got the hunters on your back because of it; it would be wrong of me to keep important information like this from you.”

Neris sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair. “Well, . That’s…a lot to take in. But thanks –”

For the second time, she was interrupted by Himchan; this time, rather than by words, she was cut off when he grabbed her wrist as she lowered her hand from her hair. It was, incidentally enough, the wrist with the cuff over it.

“You don’t take this off, do you?” He asked rhetorically. “You’re not hiding…”

He trailed off, but Neris knew what he was implying. “I’m not hiding anything. I mean, I am, but not what you think it is. Besides, even if I did injure myself intentionally – which I have never and would never – it wouldn’t scar anyways. I’m a siren; I heal fast, remember?”

Neris undid the leather cuff, displaying the Strophalos. The black mark burned into her skin must have caught Himchan off guard, because he was motionless for a moment. Then, his thumb ghosted over the mark - a circle enclosing a serpentine maze with three main arms, which in turn were situated around a central, fiery spiral.

“It was a…uh, gift from the god of the Underworld. At least, the god of my people.” Neris told him. “Hades said that by accepting this mark I'd be granted special powers, but that a sacrifice would have to be made. That sacrifice turned out to be my sanity, hence the temper issue from earlier today. I have to be careful not to fly off the handle or else it'd get messy. And my eyes, too, that’s a part of it; it twisted my Harpy form. A normal siren would just have all -out eyes when they went into that state.”

“If the sacrifice was that big, why did you accept the Mark if the price was that high?” Himchan asked, his voice quiet.

“My friends’ lives were at stake. The lives of the people who lived in Beacon Hills were at stake, and they’d be put at risk time and time again,” Neris told him. “To save my friends…this was the least I could do. Besides,” she went on, attempting to lighten the darkened mood, “it’s not like it hurt. Well, it burned, but with wasn’t the worst marking experience I had. This one didn’t even hurt.”

She held out her left arm, displaying the pale peach mark on her wrist. To the untrained eye, it would be impossible to see unless one was looking for it. But, that was the point.

“It’s called a Pikorua,” she explained. “It was given to me by a friend of mine. He’s a tohunga mākutu, a Māori magic user; Māori being the indigenous people of New Zealand. The single twist stands for the bond between two people as well as the path of life and eternity. It’s essentially a testament to our friendship and how we’ll meet again one day.”

“Hang on, you said that this mark wasn’t the worst experience,” he began, his thumb running over the Strophalos once more, “and the Pik…the Pi…the other one didn’t hurt. What other marks do you have?”

Her hand went unconsciously to the space behind her left ear. Himchan noticed and pulled her hand away, examining the mark that looked like a blackened burn scar.

“It looks like a backwards 5,” he spoke. “What is it?”

“It’s the Japanese kanji for self; when a Nogitsune – a void spirit – was terrorizing Beacon Hills a Kitsune summoned demon warriors called Oni to hunt it down. They scanned every supernatural creature in Beacon Hills to make sure the Nogitsune wasn’t possessing them; the kanji was to show proof that I wasn’t possessed.” Neris shuddered involuntarily. “It was awful. It was cold – a biting, aching cold – and I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like I was drowning and ice was forming in my lungs. Even after I was marked, the cold wouldn’t go away. It was numbing; I couldn’t move.”

She felt Himchan place his hands on her shoulders, snapping her out of her reverie, as he gazed down at her with soft eyes.

“I can understand now why you want to stay out of our pack,” he admitted gently. “What you’ve been through…it sounds like more than one person can handle. And I’m sure what you’ve told me has barely scraped the surface. Though, I don’t think I understand why you want to go back to that place so badly.”

“You must know what it’s like to be away from your pack,” Neris reasoned. “It feels like you’re not all there, like part of you is missing. When I’m away from my friends and Beacon Hills, I’m not able to protect them and help them protect others.”

“But you’re also putting yourself in danger,” he spoke with such tenderness, such sincerity, that Neris was caught off guard.

And there they were. Butterflies causing a storm inside her stomach. She had only felt that sensation once before, and was surprised at its reappearance.

“It’s not like you can guarantee I’ll be safe here,” Neris reasoned, wanting nothing more than to pull out of his hold and escape the emotions blossoming in the pit of her belly.

Himchan gave a small smile, “I can try.”

As if he sensed the shift in the mood, Himchan in a deep breath through his teeth and removed his hands from Neris’ shoulders, stepping back towards the window.

“I’ll, uh, stop distracting you from your homework now. I…just wanted to return the bestiary, and now I have, so…” he fumbled with his words as he climbed out her window. “I’ll…I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He jumped off her roof, landing effortlessly on her front lawn, and took off running in the direction of what Neris could only assume was his house. She heaved a heavy sigh and fell against her bed, shoving the instigative bestiary off the mattress and onto the floor. It protested the action with a loud thunk as it landed.

There was no way she’d be able to finish her homework, and it was yet again all Kim Himchan’s fault.