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PS: Kylon at top

The room was amazing!

The walls were coated with floriated wallpaper, and the floor comprised a deep burgundy wood. It was easy to get lost within the purple flowers that adorned the wall right next to me as we sat in silence. A stranger had arrived earlier and tidied up the bed. I sat on its edge, waiting for Kylon to speak. Taking my time, I admired my surroundings, my eyes avoiding his position against the wall across from me.

The wood that defined the bed was true mahogany, with filigree carved into the bedhead and curls unfolding around the thick bedposts that stretched to the ceiling. A purple duvet enclosed the queen-sized mattress, coupled with matching curtains draped over the frame of the bed. Their tones of mauve flattered the lavender hues of the room, affording a certain ambience of peace and security.

The heady scent–roses, as I'd rightly guessed–calmed my nerves, and I thought, with astonishment, that this felt like home.

"Overwhelmed is my guess," Kylon declared finally. His eyes were now on me, watching me closely with a narrow smile on his lips.

"Huh?" I uttered, dragged from my reverie. I tore my eyes from the room to face him, brows knitted.

Kylon shook his head and pushed away from the wall. He stepped towards the window. From my position, I could see the rosy blush of dawn transforming into an icy blue. Birds twittered sleepily, evoking nostalgia.

He didn't look back at me, only studied whatever was outside, when he replied, "I meant that you're probably overwhelmed."

One didn't have to know me well in order to reach that conclusion. Who wouldn't feel worn out after waking up in a weird place? Especially when you had been so convinced you were dying. I ignored his question, and I asked him one that was entirely unrelated.

"Why does Anastacia call me by my full name, even when I insisted she shouldn't?" Even to my own ears, I sounded annoyed.

Kylon chuckled heartedly. "I can't believe I guessed wrong," he mused.

I bit back a retort; instead, I waited for him to speak first. If you allowed yourself to react, there would be no end to his teasing. A few moments passed, and I shifted my weight until I was sitting in the middle of the bed, preparing to snap at him for ignoring my question. I was a hypocrite, pure and simple.

"Why do you call Stacia by her full name?"

My prepared remark died on my tongue, and I was dissatisfied with his approach to the subject. I swallowed, my dry throat sore as I thought of a way to respond without sounding petulant.

"Because," I grumbled eventually, "I just met her. Wouldn't it be weird to be so casual with a stranger?"

"True, but she's not exactly a stranger, you know. We–" He seemed to catch himself. "I've known her for quite some time."

I scowled at him. "Does mother know her?"

He hesitated. "Hardly."

"That doesn't explain why I should call an older woman by her nickname, nor why she should call me by my full name. It's weird," I protested, feeling foolish now. Why were we even having this argument?

He let out a long sigh and turned to face me. Suddenly, he looked weary, but a slight smile played with his lips. "You're not far off. She may be old, but she doesn't play the part."

"I didn't mean that she was that old! Wait, do you mean she's one of those women who look younger as they age?"

Kylon smirked at my comparison. "Not exactly. Though if you understand it like that, then yes."

I lowered my gaze to my hands in my lap, twirling my fingers together. "So, um, is she like... forty? Forty-five?"

My head snapped up when Kylon snorted. I rolled my eyes at the lavender ceiling, convinced that we were never going to finish a decent conversation.

Once he found enough air in his lungs, he said, "Forty, are you serious? Your guess isn't far off, though out of respect for the Lady, I won't reveal her age. Don't girls have an aversion against that kind of thing?"

"Women do, I suppose. So she's younger than I guessed?"

He abruptly turned serious. "Alex, don't pursue it. I'm not going to tell you."

I badly wanted to argue with him, maybe wring the answer out of him, but on second thought, I knew there were other matters we had to discuss. As if he read my mind, he went to the chair, dragged it closer to the bed, and sat backwards on it, his face and the back of the chair facing me.

"Now, I've been practising this speech for years, and honestly, I'd expected Stacia to back me up on this, but since she has other problems at hand," he said while shrugging, "I guess you'll have to cope with me here. Now, where should I start?"

I must have looked baffled, because he smiled sadly and said, "Alex, have you ever done any research on myths and legends? Crap like the Greek gods and all that."

I was certain that he was trying to tease me again but answered anyway. "No, though I do think I know what you mean by Greek gods." Who didn't? I didn't live under a rock; I mucked about watching television like any lazy teenager. "Why? What does that have to do with my... my situation?"

"It has everything to do with your situation, sis. I already told you that you're on a mythical island, remember?"

I recalled something silly along those lines. "You said something about a mythical island sinking into the Atlantic Ocean and...." A memory tickled at my brain, something I'd heard before, seen before. A documentary of some kind on Discovery Channel...

"Made a connection yet?" Kylon asked when he saw my disbelief, and he confirmed what I'd already guessed. "Atlantis."

Frozen, I stared at him for a few seconds. Finally, I exploded. "But that is just a mythical island, a place found in movies and books! Even if the place were real, it would be at the bottom of the ocean right now!"

Kylon's expression didn't change, and he only shook his head. I wanted to laugh at him, wanted to call him crazy and an idiot for making these kinds of jokes. Heck, I even wanted to slap some sense into him.

But his expression... I couldn't utter any insults at that serious, grim face. This wasn't a joke, but it couldn't be real either.

"It's rather complicated," Kylon began again, "but all you have to know for now is that there are four main races in this world and those in between. You know, gods used to breed with humans for thousands of years, and their children resulted in–"

Demigods.

I must've spoken aloud because Kylon nodded and said, "Yes, demigods."

I was too shocked at where this was going, so all I could do was listen with my heart pounding in my throat. This wasn't happening...

Kylon continued. "There are two races of half-gods; humans that are half god, and then a younger race that comprises the progeny of the god Poseidon. The latter happens to be the first inhabitants of Atlantis.

"Since humans bore the first race of half-gods, these god-children are labelled as demigods, while Atlantis' people are called Athlans. Though they're both half-gods, both with the blood of gods, they... sort of hate each other."

I raised my hand for him to stop, frowning down at the duvet. "So wait, what's the difference between them, exactly? From what you said, aren't they all born from gods? What makes Poseidon so special?"

I couldn't believe that I was actually listening to this shit. It was interesting and I gave him points for that, but if he expected me to believe his story, then he was going to be disappointed. This joke was too elaborate to be funny, and I had the odd sense that he was reading me a bedtime story.

Kylon glared at my timely interruption, worrying at his lip piercing with his teeth before responding.

"I don't know the details, okay? The Athlans were born from Poseidon, and apart from the fact that they live on Atlantis, there doesn't seem to be a difference between them and demigods. The being that conceived the Athlans wasn't completely human, we believe."

His fingers pulled at the piercing, and I snapped. "Stop that, it's gross!"

He took a deep breath and released his tortured lip with a pout. He had the nerve to continue as if he wasn't acting like a spoiled child.

"So now Athlans live on Atlantis, obviously. The island is only visible to those with the blood of gods. That is why you are here, sis. This is where you, unfortunately"–he pulled a face–"belong. You have been placed under the care of a woman called Brooke and her daughter Shelina. I can't stay long, especially since I had a hard time convincing them to let me stay. I wanted to help you understand a little, even if I suck at explaining this crap. Otherwise, Brooke will bring you up to date so that you can fit in with the other kids." He stuck a thumb over his shoulder, towards the window, but when I followed his finger, I only saw the blue morning sky.

I gaped at him. He couldn't be serious, could he? Was he seriously expecting me to believe him? This was impossible, and there was no way I was falling for any of it! He couldn't just expect me to accept that his bedtime story was real and that he was going to leave me here. Here being Atlantis, apparently. I glared at him, willing my suspicion to manifest and physically stab him until he admitted the truth.

"What do you mean I belong here? Am I a so-called demigod?" I laughed, though strangely there was no joy in my voice as it rose and fell alongside the tears rapidly marking my cheeks. I didn't understand my body. Why did I feel so sad? It wasn't like he was really going to leave me! His bedtime story wasn't even real, so there was no reason for the sense of fear foreshadowing my heart. I'd only gotten drunk on the night of the school dance. I was just staying in a hotel so that Janine wouldn't discover that I'd been enjoying the pleasures of underage drinking–she'd kill me for sure if she knew. The pain had been the forewarning of the most freakishly weird menstrual cycle in my life. There was no way that I was anything other than human. There was no way that things like demigods and Atlantis existed, period!

Please, Kylon. Just stop lying!

Kylon took my hands from my lap and squeezed them between his warm ones. I didn't understand his expression then; it looked like a mixture of sadness, determination, and understanding.

"When I said there were four races–gods, demigods, Athlans, and humans–and those in between, it means that there are those who are Hybrids between Athlans and humans. Half human, half Athlan and ultimately part god, a mixture of three races, excluding demigods. Demigods stay the same because of their human-god bloodline."

I had to swallow the bile in my throat before I could talk, barely above a whisper. "I'm a Hybrid?"

Forget not believing a word he was saying. I was crying so much that it didn't matter what I thought anymore. It didn't make sense, yet I couldn't shake his words. I couldn't ignore them. I couldn't, for the life of me, scream at Kylon to stop deceiving me so spitefully.

Because, long before my mind could verbally protest its denial, my heart had already sunk into the deepest recesses of my chest. My mind spiralled out of control since it feared for the safety of my heart. Surely I would get a heart attack. There was no way I believed any of this.

Yet, my heart had already accepted it, and it just wanted to hide from the world forever and huddle within the beauty of ignorance forever.

When Kylon only nodded, the room fell into silence. His answer confirmed what I already knew; my heart wouldn't be allowed to escape from reality as it came crashing down over my head. Once this realisation came, I was faced with more disturbances to my internal equilibrium.

I couldn't be a Hybrid. I couldn't be a mix of three beings–it was unbelievable. It was agonising to think that, after sixteen years of my life, I'd never known about mythical creatures roaming the earth around me. That the island Atlantis really existed and that I was on it right now, and to accept that I, somehow, had the mixed bloodline that included a god, and I had never known it until now.

I couldn't just accept it, could I? They couldn't just leave me here!

My heart was battering my ribs right now, making it hard to breathe. My mouth was so dry it felt like I'd just swallowed sun-baked sand, and I desperately wanted something to drink. I didn't think I would be able to hold my nerve much longer. On second thought, I couldn't accept that something so unreal, so laughable, could be true. There was a reason why gods and all that shit were myths!

"Alex?"

"S-something to drink." I gasped to avoid his concerned face, feeling panic dance inside my head.

Kylon stood up and opened a door next to the bed which looked suspiciously like a bathroom and returned with a glass of water. He smiled sheepishly at me while I gulped down the water. For some reason, the water scratched my throat. It convulsed as I touched my Adam's apple.

"Sorry, I forgot that you haven't eaten or drunk anything for four days."

Even as he said it with a smile, I caught the concerned twitch in his smile. I almost choked on the water when I heard the news. What the fuck?

"Four days?" I squawked, my voice hoarse. I winced.

He shrugged one shoulder and took the glass I held out to him, placing it on a mahogany dresser by the bed's foot.

"It's the pain of being part-god. It doesn't matter if you're a Demigod, Athlan or Hybrid; all of them experience a period of puberty where their divine blood awakens. It's an unpleasant process, but that's what happened to you four nights ago. It's where your deific genes kick in."

"That's weird," I mused, grimacing. And overdone.

This crazy experience was quickly evolving to depict a scene out of a Young Adult book.

He smirked. "Tell me about it! You almost gave me a heart stroke that night."

I frowned at him. No matter how I tried and how many jokes he made, I couldn't stop myself from beginning to believe him, believe this. My heart reached a painful level of exhaustion. The pain... I never wanted to remember it again, but I knew I wasn't going to escape the memory, and I knew that this diverging course of my life was really happening.

I wish this were a dream...

Something occurred to me then. "Do you"–I had to clear my dry throat and try again–"Do you know, like, who my parents are?"

Just like that, like a chest snapped shut to hide its treasures inside, Kylon's emotions bled away from his face, leaving it carefully blank. "No, I don't. Sorry."

I tried to push away the disappointment, but I knew when Kylon averted his gaze that it was showing on my face. For once in my life, I felt truly alone. Not the lonely feeling that I got when I thought about my real parents. Not the depression when I thought that my parents had abandoned me, given me without a word to Janine because they had a disadvantage and were unable to raise me. It wasn't even the solitude that I sought to escape the intrusiveness of my peers. I felt empty, devoid of purpose in life.

You have Janine and Kylon, Alex, my mind whispered, and I knew it was right. I was thankful to them, and I loved my foster family as if they were my real mother and brother. They would always be my family.

And now that was being taken away from me, too.

Kylon must have seen the thoughts on my face because he shook his head. "No, Alex. We're not going anywhere. You're only going to stay here until you're eighteen, and then you will get to come back with me. However, like I said before, I have to be off Atlantis by noon, and we won't see each other for a while. But I promise you, sis, that we will visit."

I gave a nearly imperceptible nod. "I believe you."

He raised his eyebrows teasingly. "What, the Alexandra Ribbon forgetting to be stubborn? Surprise me the next time I see you."

He began to get up, and my pulse quickened with panic. "You're leaving? You cannot just leave me here! What if a Demigod eats me!"

A strange look crossed his face, and then he laughed. "Demigods don't eat Athlans, Alex. Don't be weird. You'll be fine; somebody is going to take you to school, which is a relief."

I punched his side, and he grunted. "Careful, you might knock one of my ribs out."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, we wouldn't want you to end up like Josh."

I realised what I was saying and immediately began to blush, temporarily forgetting that I wasn't going to see my brother for who knew how long. I couldn't believe I'd just triggered a grenade, and I swore I could hear the seconds tick by as my brother's face darkened.

Kylon bit his lip grimly, anger flashing in his eyes. "Speaking of which, I want to know what that bastard did to you."

Knew it!

I turned away from him. Even though I understood that his anger was for Josh, I hated to see the antagonism in his eyes, the barely contained tension. It just wasn't him. Kylon was carefree; his life consisted of indolence and blithe remarks.

"Nothing," I mumbled, my ears thrumming with blood.

Kylon didn't respond, and I knew he wanted me to explain. I took a shaky breath, and in a quivering voice, it all came rushing out. "He didn't get far enough to do anything. I'm okay, but the only reason I punched him was because I was hurting for no reason, and I'd asked him to stop, but he wouldn't."

I jumped when Kylon made a strange type of growling sound. It was unsettling, to say the least. I rushed to conclude my story, nearly dying of embarrassment–there was nothing more mortifying than your brother knowing you'd been about to do the dirty with your ex.

"I'm okay now, so, he can take his cheating ass and fall into a pit or something," I finished lamely, my face melting with heat.

"He cheated on you," he said as a statement, but I nodded anyway. "With who?"

"Who do you think? Natasha."

"I always knew that bitch came from a bitch pit in hell," he grumbled. He didn't even stumble over the mouthful of words.

I sighed and faced him when my cheeks cooled down a bit. "I was drunk," I said firmly.

"Of course you were, so next time you should stay away from strange drinks, eh?" He flashed a toothy grin, dissolving some of the tension in the air, but the fire was still in his eyes.

I suddenly had the urge to cry, my eyes turning the world into a blurry mess. I blinked rapidly to dry them, but that only caused the tears to spill over. Suddenly, I was within the warm fold of Kylon's arms, my face pressed against his familiar neck, his familiar scent–the smell of leather and Axe perfume, strangely reminding me of his sleek black motorcycle. Like the many times I'd cried when children had mocked my long legs when I was eight, or when my first boyfriend had dumped me, or when I'd broken my leg at thirteen when Kylon accidentally drove his motorcycle over a ditch and I fell off, he cooed kind words like "It's going to be okay" and "I'm here."

Except this time, I knew this was the last when I would cry in his arms like this, with his soft voice reassuring me that the world wasn't so bad. We stood like that for ten minutes until no more tears came out of my eyes, and I was sniffling softly to keep from running snot all over his jacket. I would never hear the end of it, and if my "friends" were to see me now, I was sure they would cringe.

Kylon pulled out an old-fashioned handkerchief–I'd always mocked him about it–and handed it to me without letting go of me. I blew my nose and then said, in a rather muffled voice, "Thanks. I never thought I'd use it, but thanks nonetheless."

He chuckled and let go of me. "You can't deny it, it is useful."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. It's still gross."

He wiped away the last of my tear-stained cheeks with his jacket's sleeve and then hugged me again. "I'll miss your irritating voice, sis, I really will."

I clasped him tightly. "And I'll miss your handkerchiefs even more."

His chest rumbled when he laughed. "Take care of yourself, please. If I find out from Shelly that another guy took advantage of you, whether you were drunk or not, I'll strangle you."

"Don't get your hopes up, Ky. I'll revel in your dark disappointment." No doubt that he'd like to beat any guy within a five-meter radius of me, but that would definitely give him a criminal record.

He ruffled my head and gave a peck on my cheek, and then turned around. With the main room door open and his hand still on the golden doorknob, he looked over his shoulder at me one last time, winked, and was gone.

I think Kylon is my favourite character in this book. He's so adorable as an overprotective brother, right? There's also a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter, can you guess it?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Give it a cheeky like if you did, and scroll on to the next chapter!

Thanks for reading!