We Are the Night- Stones

With Dohyun safely tucked in her bed and head checked for any injuries, Minjae was allowed to leave. He already did enough and he had to rethink his protective ways. Hikaru went home too after a day of working full time, something he didn't sign up for. That left Fei all alone with the human in the library. She put all his stuff in the living room on the armchair and returned to his side. Dohyun was alright, he only had a bruise on his forehead and no concussion. The whole day must have been overwhelming because he was sleeping deeply.

Fei stood there and watched him, not daring getting closer. She made the mistake of telling Lee Hyang more than she should have had so she promised herself she wasn't going to open herself up to a human ever again. Somehow, Dohyun was pulled into her world by other forces and she knew it was best to have him forget it all.

"What are you doing?" He asked sensing her hand over his eyes.

"It's for your own safety. Maybe you were lucky once but not all creatures are like the centaurs. There are truly horrible beasts in my side of the world." She explained.

Dohyun moved her hand away and got up, leaning against the bed head still feeling a bit dizzy.

"That's my choice, not yours. I don't want to forget anything, memories are precious to me. And Pirape was nice enough to teach me a thing or two. I can't let that go to waste."

Fei raised an eyebrow and stepped back, putting more space between them.

"Don't come crying to me when you'll stumble upon a real monster. Pirape won't be there to protect you either." She said sounding a lot colder than she was.

With that said and done she made a move to leave but Dohyun quickly grabbed her wrist and more or less forced her to sit next to him.

"What about you?" He asked looking into her eyes. "Who are you?"

She swore she had the weirdest deja vu. Blinking rapidly she tried to stop herself from remembering the past.

"I am a nymph. I was- “she stopped. She didn't expect it but she was choking up. "I was born from...I can't do this. I'm sorry, I have to leave."

Dohyun watched with a frown as Fei hurried out of the room. She couldn't even stay in her apartment, she had to go downstairs and sit on the sofa. In front of her was the arrow, shining in the moonlight. Did it really seem like she was showing it off to the world? For her it was a remembrance that she shouldn't trust humans. And yet for some reason Dohyun stumbled into her life.

Fei was a curious being by default, she was created like that. So when she was finally allowed to enter the library of the king, she was excited. And yet now that she had shelves of manuscripts at her disposal she realized something very important.

"They are all written in Hanja." A voice interrupted her.

She turned around quickly and was surprised to see him closer than expected. His eyes were sparkling with curiosity and he leaned down to look straight into her green eyes.

"Well? Can you read it?" He asked with a bemused expression.

"What are they about?" She asked slipping away from him.

"Depends what you want to know. They are about everything and nothing at all."

Fei stared at the young king with doubt. She couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, literally.

"I want to know about the gods, about traditions and what makes a great king." She started, "I guess he has to be tall and good looking. Manipulation requires charm."

Lee Hyang couldn't help but laugh. It was so refreshing to have someone speak so disrespectfully and yet be polite at the same time.

"I will answer all those question if you answer mine." He said approaching her. She was leaning on a wooden desk and he seemed to carefully scan her. "Who are you?"

"Fei, the scholar woman from foreign lands." She said in a monotone voice. Hyang shook his head, knowing that was how other people referred to her as, not how she introduced herself..

"No, I want to know who you really are." He said growing serious.

His eyes held incredible power over her. It wasn't his status that intimidated her, he never even used his title as king to force her to do or say something. There was so much curiosity and desire to learn and improve himself and his land. It was rather overwhelming.

"My name is Fei and I was born in Crete. That's an island in Greece. I'm sure you heard of greek philosophers." She responded mesmerized by the glint in those foxy eyes.

"Just bits. Their ideas are not part of our customs."

"Well, whether you agree or not with them, it's good to at least be aware of their theories and ideas. The world is like a circle so whatever happened in the past will eventually return under a new way into the present."

"Then I am lucky to have you here, to teach me." He said truly believing his words. He took a step closer to her and Fei felt trapped even if she could easily overpower him. "Your eyes are like nothing I had seen before."

"That's because I am a nymph. I was made from an ashen tree by the goddess Demeter more than 100 years ago. My eyes change colours the same way the leaves do. It's spring so that's what you see." She explained. To her surprise, he leaned so close that their foreheads touched.

"It sounds like a story for children and yet I believe you." He whispered before he backed off slowly. "What is a nymph?" He asked in confusion.

"I guess you could say I am a minor deity or a spirit of the forest. Nature gives me life, literally." She replied taking a seat and opening her book. He watched over her shoulder and gasped, breathing right next to her ear. She felt a chill go down her spine and decided to not turn her head in case he was too close again.

"What is this language you are writing in?"

"Ancient Greek. This is my journal. I started writing in it in case I forgot important details from the past but it became my personal journal. I write weekly. I wrote about you too." She said with a sly smile.

"Really? And what did you say?" He asked with a chuckle.

"That the king of Joseon is a lot more mischievous than his people believe and he goes out in town in disguise. He's also very curious and open to all cultures." She said while writing something else. "He is wise in his decisions but he is naive when it comes to women. Not the player I believed him to be. He is definitely different from western kings in that aspect." She added before she turned to finally look at him. He was still leaning over her shoulder but he was supporting himself with one hand on the desk.

"Is that really what you wrote?" He asked, his eyes making her heart beat quicker.

"More or less," she replied and returned to writing.

Even now, Fei couldn't help chuckle at his antics. She really never told him a single lie.

"What are you doing?"

Fei jolted at the voice of her guest. He was such an unpredictable person and it was for sure going to bite him in the arse in the long run.

"I'm drowning in self-pity." She said the truth, as always. "Why did you get out of bed? You had a rough day."

"I need you to look at my back. It stings badly."

It was difficult to figure out if he was telling the truth or he was messing with her but the way he flinched when he sat on the sofa made her realize it was probably for real. He turned his back and she pulled up his shirt only to face a bruised back.

"You fell pretty badly." She mumbled caressing his red skin softly.

"Do you have some lotion I can use?" He asked over his shoulder.

"I have something better." She replied using her life force in order to heal him.

Dohyun's eyes widened at how the pain died down until it disappeared completely. In a minute or two, he was brand new.

"You really have powers," he gasped as he thought about something else, "How old are you?"

"Old." She replied telling the truth and yet not giving much detail. "I am a nymph which means I have been around for a very long time. I was born in Crete, in Greece from an ashen tree by the goddess Demeter." She added sensing he had more questions.

"Is this really a library?" He asked narrowing his eyes at her.

"Yes. It's my library."

"Pirape mentioned that the Underworld takes their information from the warehouse."

"They do. The library and warehouse are connected to the underworld."

Dohyun's eyes widened and he jumped on his feet, spinning around in search for a glimpse of the afterlife.

"Not here. Now, if you are fine you can go home. I have to go to work."

"What do you mean work? Aren't you the owner of the library?"

"Yes, and I work for the eastern gods. In order for me to come down from my hermit life in the mountains I had to agree to work for them."

"And what exactly do you do?"

"Paperwork," she replied with dread. "I have to log every name of every soul that enters the underworld into the system. I also have to keep the record of every application for reincarnation and send forward the applications of deities who want to vacation on earth."

Dohyun stood there blinking just to connect the dots. She was doing a lot more than he thought.

"That's...a lot."

"Yes. And besides that, I have to agree to do whatever the eastern gods don't feel like doing."

"Do you get paid?"

"No, I am a slave." She replied so seriously that he felt really bad for asking.

With Dohyun gone, Fei walked up into her apartment. She had a bookcase of her own with manuscripts that revolved around her persona and work. She grabbed what looked like a heavy book. Its cover was made out of metal and gold but the pages were yellow and worn out. She skimmed through the pages until she came to a name. Munjong of Joseon, fifth king of the Joseon Dynasty it said and under Application status was an Ø.

"What does this mean?" A newbie version of Fei asked Hades when she first came across it.

Hades glanced at it for a second before he scoffed.

"You should stop with this person, Fei. He brought you in this pitiful position to begin with." He commented from his side of the desk. He was busy smoking from his pipe and blowing smoke in different shapes.

"So then...what does it mean?" She asked after a while.

Hades rolled his eyes at her behaviour.

"It means it is null. When he was asked by the committee, Lee Hyang refused reincarnation. He refused to be reborn ever again."

"Why?" She asked immediately.

"I don't know and frankly, I don't care."

Now, staring at the sign again, she couldn't help sigh in disappointment. Lee Hyang was not reincarnated in the person of Lee Dohyun because he refused it altogether. So then why did they resemble each other so much?

Although Dohyun did not seem very affected by everything that happened at the library, when he arrived home he fell against the door. His legs were trembling and he felt like he was going to throw up. After a few agonizing minutes he rushed into the bathroom and vomited everything he ate into the toilet. It was all so surreal. Centaurs, the underworld, nymphs...he had to pinch himself to remind himself that he was alive.

Even in the shower he couldn't help but think about Pirape's body. Dohyun looked down at his chest, which luckily was not as hairy as a centaur's. Then he looked down at his abs, which unfortunately were not as defined as a centaur's. But at least he had two legs, not four.

"I guess there are both good and bad points...no, wait, what am I thinking?" He spoke to himself and washed himself harder.

When he got out of the shower he caught glimpse of his back in the mirror. He stopped wiping his hair and stared at the skin. He fell pretty badly and he was sure there must have been some damage and yet now he felt very energetic.

Once clothed in his pyjamas and his hair still slightly wet, he went in his room and his laptop and grabbed his drawing tablet. He didn't even think about what he was doing but by the end, he had a sketch of a centaur in a never-ending hallway. He smiled to himself, content with the image until he remembered Fei's teary eyes. He sighed, feeling his heart heavy. It was not a sight he wanted to see again, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. He drew a faint image of a weeping nymph and frowned at the result.

"Why does this make me feel so guilty?" He wondered leaning back in his chair.