Family(2)

Jasmine looked up at the painting in awe. Such a beautiful woman existed? She had thought that the models that graced the runways were the most beautiful women she could ever see, but after seeing an actual goddess, they all paled in comparison. She now understood why Dairon was so otherworldly handsome. He had inherited most of his features from his mother.

"Does she live in this realm?" She asked, knowing that if such a beauty appeared in the human world, everyone would know about her.

"No. She lives in the enchanted circle with my grandparents." Dairon then pointed at another painting, which looked like a kingdom under water. In the next painting, a couple played in front of a pillar, and she thought they were Alaya's or Dairon's siblings until she learned that they were his grandparents—Dylan and Nila. Didn't gods ever grow old?! They all looked about the same age!

Moving on to the next painting, she finally saw what The Enchanted Circle looked like from the outside. It was exactly as Vivian had described it from the blogs, the darkest part of the sea which was made so by the fact that it was much deeper compared to the other parts.

"That's where you found me." She recalled what he had mentioned before.

He nodded. "It's the reason why you are weak. The Enchanted Circle is too deep for a human to survive. Not to mention, the closer you are to the gods, the harder the power they use to protect their territory hits you."

She nodded in understanding, then tilted her head to look at him curiously. "Vivian said something about the gods granting a wish to whoever makes it to The Enchanted Circle in one piece. Is it true?"

He laughed at the tale she was asking about. "Forget humans. Even gods of different elements can't get there easily."

She chuckled, though she had to admit that she was starting to believe some of the things Vivian kept yapping about in the past. "Why don't you live with your family?" She asked in an attempt to pry for more information.

When she realized that she might have jabbed a sore spot, she tried not to look at him. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I prefer it here." He answered curtly, to which she nodded and didn't have anything to ask about.

"My friend will check on you tomorrow." He announced, averting his gaze from the paintings.

She was slightly surprised, having previously thought that he didn't have any friends.

"I'll go to sleep now." She headed for the door.

"I'll walk you there." He offered, and she had to accept his help since she was certain of getting lost in the long hallways.

"Goodnight." She muttered to him when they reached the door of her room, then she pushed the door and walked in without waiting for his response.

The following morning, Jasmine woke up to the bright sunshine and she couldn't help going out to enjoy the warmth.

Dairon was out too, but she was surprised when she saw that the sea didn't have any water in it. Instead, it looked like an endless hollow that was terrifying to look at.

"What happened to the sea?" She asked him, patting her chest from the fright she had suffered.

He patted the space beside himself on the large rock he was sitting on. When she sat down, he finally explained as he let the water fill up once again. "I'm cleaning it and ensuring there isn't any toxin."

She looked at his side profile, wondering about his train of thought. "You live on your own on this island. Why would there be toxins in the water?" She wondered aloud. Weren't toxins caused by factories and garbage?

"Just making sure." He smiled, inwardly gushing at how beautiful she looked. She had tied up her black hair in a ponytail that fell on her back, and it made her equally black eyes stand out all the more. How beautiful… he thought.

After seeing and meeting several demigoddesses and goddesses, he didn't think he would ever find a human as anything good to look at–but that was until he met her. Her smile was the most charming, and it made him want to give up his life just to be with her.

"Would you like to listen to a tune?" He asked when the sea calmed.

She did, but she didn't want him to think that she was enjoying her stay here. She was still thinking about her family and her best friend, so she remained quiet.

She heard footsteps behind them and turned, to see yet another peculiar-looking man in a long, gold-colored robe that almost covered his shoes. He must be of the same kind as Dairon, she guessed.

Dairon turned too and stood when he saw who the incomer was. "He's here. This is Bardumond, my friend. He's going to check up on you." He explained to Jasmine, who then stood up.

"It's nice to meet you, Jasmine. I met you before, but you were still unconscious." The man named Bardumond stretched out his hand, which she shook.

"It's nice to meet you too." She responded as a formality, even though she didn't want anything to do with Dairon. Not even his friends.

"Let's go to a more quiet place." Bardumond suggested, and the three of them headed to the library, which according to Dairon was the most quiet place in the entire mansion.

Bardumond had Jasmine sit opposite him, and he opened the satchel hanging from his shoulder to take out a piece of cloth, which he placed on his lap. "Give me your hand."

"Okay." She complied even though she didn't understand any of the things he was doing. He wiped her hand with the piece of cloth which was wet and had the strong smell of unfamiliar medicine, then he pressed the sides of her wrist as Dairon watched at the side.

"Looks like you're getting stronger." Bardumond smiled after a series of his weird checks.

"That's wonderful news!" Dairon was relieved, and so was she. She could soon go home!

"You can read for a while. I'll have a word with Bardumond." He said to her, then walked out with his friend.

The men walked to another corridor and when he was certain that they were far enough from the library, Bardumond finally opened his mouth. "She's doing better. However, I'm getting a weird vibe from her. Don't you think she's recovering too fast?"

Dairon frowned slightly and although he didn't want to talk about it, some matters just didn't make much sense. "Last night, she mysteriously turned on a flame in the fireplace. I'm certain that there wasn't any wood in her room. The flame didn't go off no matter what I did—until she fell asleep."

Bardumond held onto his satchel as he took in Dairon's words. "That sounds like a characteristic of demons. They have a thing with fire. What did you do, Dairon? What have you brought upon yourself?"

"She is not a demoness." Dairon sounded defensive. He wouldn't tolerate anyone speaking ill of Jasmine—not even if he himself thought that what happened was strange.

"That's what you want to believe, Dairon, but she survived such a deep drown. All the way to the enchanted circle. How many meters was she away from it? Ten?" He insisted. How could a human survive such depth? If she was a human, then she had to be a witch. Even if she were a witch, it wouldn't have been easy for her to survive.

"You…" He was still reprimanding him when Dairon broke into a fit of coughs, coughing out a mouthful of blood.

"Dairon?" Bardumond hit his back, only stopping when the latter stopped coughing. He then helped him to a chair on the balcony. "Sit. Are you alright?"

"I'm okay." Dairon stilled himself while gazing towards the sea.

Bardumond still found it odd. Demigods didn't fall sick that easily, unless they came into contact with something that triggered it. Dairon hadn't been leaving the island recently, which made Bardumond wonder how he could have come into contact with anything harmful.

He took his friend's hand to examine him. "You seem to have used up too much of your power at the same time, you exhausted yourself. What have you been up to?"

He frowned when it suddenly dawned on him. "Wait. It was Jasmine. She was dead, right? You brought her back to life?"

Dairon looked up at him and said nothing in response, which Bardumond took as a yes. "Dairon, how could you?"

"It's alright. It didn't affect me much." He was indifferent.

"You are coughing blood! Who knows how else it has unknowingly affected you?" Before he could be called out for being paranoid, Bardumond ran a hand through his long hair and warned, "You won't get lucky each time. You know the rules—You shouldn't do anything to alter fate."