A/N:  This is the first time I have ever posted a video link to a song within a story.  I'd recommend pausing reading, playing it to get a vibe for the moment, and then after hearing it continuing on.  Also, second Fae race reveal amongst the Legion occurs this chapter!  (Unless I miscounted...but I'm pretty sure it's the second.)

4750 words

Posted 9/24/21

I'm thankful when noon rolls around that no one has yet knocked on my door with news to let me know a meal was ready. I honestly felt that I just needed some time to myself this morning. Last night had shaken me up pretty badly, although I had to admit to myself that it wasn't entirely due to fear alone.

Sure, I quickly had compared the fiends outside the window to things that more than likely composed my childhood nightmares, and to a hefty extent I meant it. However, the truth was, those fiends were far more terrifying than I think even my childhood imagination could conjure up. I wasn't exactly frightened of them though, at least not as much as I probably should have been.

No, I was more unsettled by their physical existence. Where they were definitely beings I could wholly agree were made of nightmares, their presence had me feeling like I was just now waking up to the new world I was a part of, or technically should have been a part of since my birth. That I was only just now starting to understand what the dark side of it looked like. I might have considered myself a monster before learning about my demonic nature, but I also hadn't really perceived that what that meant was I wasn't the only one. Not only that but even if I were a monster that meant there were bigger and badder monsters out there than myself. Bigger. Like my fae demon roommates for example.

I took a moment to reflect on the battle prowess they demonstrated during the fights that occurred outside my window. There was no doubt after witnessing it for myself that all of them were exceptionally skilled, and I had to wonder if that was due to innate genetic abilities or if it was due to centuries' worth of practice and training. That thought had me diving even further and contemplating the possibility of what each of their fae races might be.

Of course I already knew that Namjoon was a Gryphon since he told me last night, but I still mentally replayed the vision of his shifted form in my mind. He wasn't gold like I had mentally pictured. Instead his form was as dark as the shadows, and I could barely make him out as he streaked through the sky unless he used his magical breath orb ability. When he did that the orb of magic he ejected forth from his hawk-like beak lit up his face. I thought I had gotten a sense of similar shades of color I found in my own natural hair tones. Mostly black, but also hints of teal, purple, and indigo mixed in at the tips of each of his feathers and shining off in highlights across the back of his fur coat.

I don't know for certain how many of the others are shifters. I was pretty certain that Yoongi was, however. After all, he was the only other one to shift while out on the temporary battlefield, but it was only a partial shift. I knew his hands became paws and that they must have been tipped with some deadly claws. However, other than the fact they were furry and black I had no true clue what animal he might shift into. It could be something from what I would have referred to as mythology only a handful of days ago, or it could have been a form that existed in my known reality. He didn't talk much, so I doubted he would willingly tell me. At least not right away.

Taehyung I was probably the most curious about. His alienness due to his scales had me quite intrigued to know what kind of Fae he might be. Due to the water magic he used last night the first possibility that came to mind was perhaps he was a merman. Unfortunately, for some reason that didn't feel completely accurate to me, and I found myself quite literally stumped by the mystery. I am sure there were probably a slew of mythological creatures composed of scales that had water magic. I just didn't know of a single one outside of merfolk off the top of my head.

Honestly, I couldn't see Jimin during the fight. I knew where he was due to the trajectory of the arrows that were flying toward the great flying fiends in the night sky. He had been above me aiming his bow from the rooftop. Since he was using a bow though I could only guess he wasn't in some sort of shifted form.

The rest all definitely struck me as purely humanoid and they would each probably have to tell me themselves what each of their fae races were since there were already numerous Fae humanoids I was aware of, not to mention there were also probably several I didn't know a damn thing about. Would there ever be a day I didn't feel ignorant about this new world I was a part of? Or should I count them as two new worlds since I technically am both Demon and Fae?

After the battle the cleanup took hours. They wouldn't let me out on the field since I didn't know what I was dealing with. I learned that's because the blood, or ichor as they corrected me, left behind was quite poisonous. They didn't go into details about what could happen if I touched it with my bare hands, but I had an active enough imagination and already enough nightmare fodder to keep me up for several hours last night.

Jungkook and Jimin were given the task to recast the perimeter spell.

"You mean you can't simply relight the candles?" I had asked.

"No. There is more to the spell than the candles alone." Yoongi had stoically answered me.

I hadn't gotten any more details outside of that exceptionally brief conversation. The spell took hours to cast, and by the time both the cleaning and spell was finished the sky was lightening as the sun made its way closer to the horizon. I fell asleep as the first rays cast by the sun hit my window.

I had officially woken up a couple of hours ago, but I hadn't been ready to deal with anyone else yet. So, aside from using the bathroom I hadn't really gotten up from my current prone position.

I'm torn between the idea of being lazy for the remainder of the day, and by the idea of dancing some more. Before relocating here I would spend every day dancing to the point of near exhaustion after work was over. Thus far I had only the one time where the dynamic dungeon was transferred to a dance studio for me. I would have to utilize it once again in the near future, and if that didn't end up being today then it should probably be soon.

I guess my whole schedule hinges on what the others have planned. I could be slotted to do more training with Taehyung or more learning about magic with Namjoon.

There is also the possibility that the others would rather laze about today too. Perhaps we could all watch movies together. At first I considered utilizing the couch in the main room for such an activity, but why do that when we can essentially create our own personal theater.

"So, is there anything planned for the day? Do I have some prospective training scheduled that I don't know about?" Everleigh asks as we finish up our meal and start cleaning up after ourselves. I really don't know what to call it since it's almost 1:30 PM yet it's also the first meal of the day. It feels somewhat wrong to call it lunch even though that matches the time more appropriately than breakfast.

I mentally chuckle at her pseudo snark she conveyed with her question. Somehow I seem to know that she is irritated by the fact that things regarding what's on her daily schedule aren't being discussed with her, but at the same time there is no real malice in her words.

"You might want to let her in on her day to day plans from here on out if you can, Namjoon. She's handling it pretty well, but she is starting to become unhappy about not knowing them beforehand." Jimin relays over our line of telepathic communication.

"I'm sorry, Everleigh. Perhaps, I should try to make a semi planned schedule rather than spontaneously plan the day out for you each morning. Although truth be told, some of those plans could easily change, and I do ask that you always keep that in mind." He apologizes and waits for reassurance that she understands.

She nods and simply responds with, "okay."

"Today with the aftermath of having to deal with the fiends I was planning on us all taking it easy. Tomorrow could end up being one of two events. If Hephaestus is done with your weapons we would be going to retrieve those and potentially get you some weapons training afterward. If he is not then I would like you to train and study with Taehyung more regarding your Succubus abilities. At some point I am hoping to work with you regarding your Fae abilities, but we first need to sort out what type of Fae blood flows through your veins." Namjoon frowns to himself after he utters his thought process.

I know for a fact that he isn't happy to fully divulge his chaotic mess that he calls plans, but he shouldn't be that bothered by them. His plans do have a sense of reasoning; they just aren't very cohesive.

"Well, I was wanting to work on my dancing for at least an hour or two this afternoon, but I thought perhaps later on we could turn the dynamic dungeon into a mini movie theater of sorts and have a movie night." She suggested, and I couldn't help but laugh mentally at her new term for the downstairs room. It fit, and the alliteration was quite cute in an almost Seussical sort of way.

"Before we brought you here how often did you dance?" Taehyung surprises us all by asking curiously. Although I am sure that Everleigh doesn't perceive his curiosity herself. He used his more stoic, cold voice to ask.

"If you mean go to the club, I didn't do that often at all. Only when my hunger was too high to stave off with chocolate. However, just practicing? I would practice every night after I got out of work. First, I would snack on something light so it wouldn't weigh me down, and then I would practice until I was too sore to practice any more." She winces after admitting that, and I realized how some people might have interpreted that poorly.

"It's her passion. She dances for the joy of it." Jimin shares with us.

"After that I would take a shower, find something a bit more substantial to eat, and shortly thereafter fall asleep." She frowns for a moment, and I can see that she is trying to sort something out for herself before she continues on. "Before I discovered my nightmarish abilities, or what I used to consider nightmarish I suppose, I was going to school with plans to either become a dancer or a choreographer. I was also even considering possibly opening my own studio where I would teach others to dance."

"Can I watch you practice?" I find myself asking before I fully think the thought through.

She's surprised for a brief moment before she graces me with a dazzling smile. "I don't mind having an audience."

"Can I please have this one on one time with her? If she is our mate then I want to spend some time with her by myself." I mentally ask the others.

"Sure, Jungkook. Perhaps we should each consider scheduling some personal one on one time with her." Namjoon surprisingly agrees without argument.

Surprisingly almost every member agrees to this. Taehyung's response is more reflective about the fact that they will be spending time together anyway due to their lessons, and Yoongi makes a sound that I can neither decipher as a confirmation or counterargument. If anything I'm mostly leaning towards the sound being one of indifference.

The others all disperse and only a few moments later Everleigh comes over to me. Her head is tilted slightly downward and her lips are curled in an almost pout-like expression. I find it equal parts adorable and frustrating to witness, because it has me wanting to plant my own lips on hers. She's just so captivating, soft, and gorgeous. I literally have to fold my fingers tightly into fists at my side just to keep from reaching out and pulling her into my arms. With how apprehensive she still seems about touching, I know she isn't yet ready to kiss one of us when she doesn't need the sustenance. Then you also have the fact that I should probably try to get to know her more before actually putting the moves on her.

"Is it possible to set up my phone to operate on the mana here?"

I quirk my own lips to the side before telling her the bad news. "Even if I were to set up your phone on the mana to work magically it would still only operate in the electrical aspect. It wouldn't function as an actual phone since you need towers to do that, and obviously we don't have access to those here." I grin at her in hopes that my expression will make my admission easier to take.

She rolls her eyes at me, and it's the second most adorable thing she has done in the past minute or so. "I know that much, but all my songs and choreography notes are on it. I realize that the library of music you have is exceptionally extensive, and I can probably find almost any song I am looking for in it. At the very least, it would be nice to refer to my notes before I try dancing to any of the songs I tend to use."

"Oh! Yeah, then of course I can do that for you!"

She literally bounces on her toes. Third most adorable thing in probably two minutes at this point. "Great!" Then she runs off upstairs while uttering her next thought out loud. "I'll go get it and change. Can you go ahead and set up the dynamic dungeon for me?"

"Sure!"

"I don't have a problem setting up the dynamic dungeon for her, but perhaps we should get her to practice more magic on her own. I mean maybe we could teach her how to use the room on her own in order to set up her own illusions." I communicate with the others telepathically as I work on the illusion I need.

"Ha! She got you saying it too!" Hoseok sends the thought over filled with mirth.

"I think it's kind of cute. Not the fact that Jungkook is saying it also, but the saying itself." Seokjin admits.

"Myself? I think it's pretty fitting. I mean one of the meanings of the word dynamic is essentially a force that can alter or change something's stability." Namjoon recites.

"Okay, mister walking dictionary!" Hoseok chided.

In the next minute their mental communication drifted to the sidelines within my mind because Everleigh walked down the stairs and my attention was solely on the outfit she changed into. Or rather it was on the amount of creamy skin on display due to her almost lack of clothing. She was wearing a skin tight black tank top that stopped just an inch above her belly button. I'm not sure if I can call the other scrap of fabric she is wearing shorts or not. If she turned around I'm pretty sure they would barely cover her ass. Unholy Hera at most they were probably only an inch lower than her curvaceous ass. I continued my perusal to notice her long shapely legs and that on her feet she wore something strange looking. There was a piece of elastic over the top of each of her feet and pieces of material woven through her toes. I could only assume on the bottom that there was the same type of fabric over that part of each of the soles of her feet.

"What are those things you are wearing?" I verbalize my curiosity, pointing to her feet as she hands me over her phone.

"They are foot thongs. They are made to protect the balls of my feet from abrasion. I can do several different types of dance, but I personally favor the contemporary, lyrical styles more than others. In that dance style true shoes aren't worn. Instead dancers either use foot thongs, like these." I watch as she tries not to cringe while uttering the name. "Or there are also half sole shoes that fit over the toes and ball of the feet, and are held on the foot with elastic bands that wrap around the heel. Personally, I prefer these."

I wrinkle my nose to convey my humor at her embarrassment. "But, you don't like the name."

"Noticed that, did ya?" She smirks at me and pairs it with a wink. Then she hands me her phone. "Could you get that set up for me?"

It's honestly a lot harder to power something with mana that already has some kind of built in way to power itself normally. Regarding the appliances within the house, those specifically are items that have been made as replicated versions of the ones you can find on Earth. They have a built in core that accepts the mana power into them. With her phone I have to first bypass the existing battery inside of it, create a small mana core seal and adhere it to the back of her phone case, and then I can work the magic to get it up and running. I excuse myself for only a moment to work on the seal before I bring it back and find her already focused on her stretching.

I handed the device over to her. "You should be set up now."

"Thanks." The smile she offers me is dazzling before she turns her focus to her phone. I'm assuming to look over the notes she seemed most concerned about.

Afterward she proceeds to warm up and stretch some more. She's focused on her actions, and I almost wonder if she is pretending I'm not in the room. I try not to watch her unintentional showcase of flexibility, but that doesn't stop my mind from conjuring up thoughts that I really shouldn't be having right now.

After fifteen torturous minutes of trying not to watch her do her warm-ups she stands up and heads to the stereo system. She selects the song she was wanting to dance to, and before pressing play herself she hands me the remote for the system. "Can you press play when I tell you?"

"Sure." I answered without hesitation.

I watch as she moves to the center of the floor and curls her legs underneath her before folding over in a fetal-like position.

https://youtu.be/6lu82oMmJ2o

Everleigh keeps position when the chilling music first begins. When a lilting female voice asks in a haunting manner is when she breaks her pose. "Can you hear me?" The voice asks. Her head tilts up. Her eyes lift toward the ceiling as she slowly unrolls her upper body from the curved position. When the chilling voice calls again she dramatically moves her hands reaching for the ceiling. Her fingers are splayed out as if she is trying to catch a ball from the air. At first I think she is frozen in the pose, but ever so slowly she inches her movements giving each of them their own fluidity. The third time the voice calls the same line sounds louder and far creepier than the first two and her hands rapidly move to cross over her torso and wrap around herself.

The next line of the singer is slightly different. "Can you hear me running?" She asks. Everleigh places her hands palm down on either side of her and shifts her body to the left in order to free her right leg from where it is folded underneath her. She fully unbends it and then fully extends it to her right, finishing the movement by curling her toes in a point. She rapidly brings it back over to her so she can finally gracefully pull herself from the floor. From that point on I can't fully keep track of her precise movements.

It's not that she is a blur of activity. I simply can't see anything other than the story she is telling with the shapes she is creating. Damn she is fucking amazing!

There is a stint where a powerful drumline kicks in during the song. She is once again on the floor. Her fists pantomiming knocking the beat out against the floor. Afterward the voice asks again. "Can you hear me?" Everleigh tilts her head back and opens up her mouth as if she were screaming.

Then the voice asks. "Can you?" She crumbles to the floor, this time instead of a fetal position her body is strewn out as if she was just defeated in battle. The voice asking again, "Can you hear me?" Everleigh's eyes remain open and unblinking. The final chords of the music eerily seem to narrate without words the character's demise.

Everleigh remains laying there, barely breathing for a few more moments before gasping to fully regain her breath. She smiles up at me. "What did you think?"

I feel like my eyes take up half of my face right now with how wide opened they are. "What did I think? I think that was fucking amazing! I think you are fucking amazing! I-- Would you be willing to let me record it? I have a video camera in my room."

She sits up and thinks about it for a second before shrugging with a smile. "I wouldn't mind. Although I definitely want a copy of the recording for myself to study my own movements, and I think after I let you do this that I deserve something in return."

Everleigh doesn't only repeat the dance one time for my recording. She repeats it twice. Each time I watch it I find myself mesmerized not just by her but also by the story she is telling with her body. As she is cooling down from her exercise she tells me how she will need a shower now. "Can you come up in about twenty minutes or so? I'd like to talk and specifically request my favor."

I don't hesitate to agree. While she is in the shower I telepathically communicate with the others that they have to see her dance. I create a new illusion in the room, and set it up like a home theater. We were going to need it for the movie marathon later on tonight anyway.

All of the others aside from Yoongi, who I learned was out running an errand, joined me so we could watch her performance together. I watched each of their faces transform, and I could tell how emotionally invested they each became during her performance. We watch it a few more times before I realize it's almost been twenty minutes, so I leave the others to decide what they want to do next before heading upstairs.

The door is already open, and she is curled up on her bed wearing a lot more clothing than she was less than half an hour ago. I don't even take note of what she is wearing since the other outfit is basically seared to my retinas and mind for the remainder of the night.

She pats the empty space beside her, and I literally throw myself onto the bed. I love that she immediately laughs at my childish antics. After I resettle myself I turn to look over at her. "So, what is this favor you were wanting to know?"

"Well..." She pauses for a moment. "If you were willing to tell me, I was curious to know what type of Fae you are. Or, well half of you is I mean." A cute puzzled expression appears on her face as she tries to sort out how she is supposed to properly ask that question since our genetics are warped. It makes the skin between her eyebrows wrinkle and pucker in confusion, which has me almost wanting to either smooth it out with the pad of my finger or press a peck to it with my lips.

I mentally refocus on the equation that is the source of her bewilderment. Half human, half fae, and then turned into a demon so even I am confused regarding the actual fractions at that point. Part of me wants to say that our human halves are essentially replaced, but I don't think that is necessarily accurate either. I blink away the mathematical confusion and instead simply choose to answer her question. "I doubt you would have heard of my race before. I'm a Púca. Namjoon let me know that he already told you about my illusion magic, or at least that I am skilled at illusion. I also have three alters that I can shapeshift into a horse, a crow, and a ra--" I mentally curse myself. Damn, I hope she won't get mad at me! "And a rabbit."

It takes her a minute to absorb that fact but when she does she gasps in shock. "You! You were the bunny?!?!? No wonder I haven't seen it since!" She lets out a surprised breathy laugh before turning to me. "Can I see your forms?"

I glance around and wrinkle my nose. "I'm pretty sure it would be a bad idea to shift into a horse here."

She blows out a frustrated breath. "Okay then aside from that one." Then she wrinkles her eyebrows in obvious immediate concern regarding a thought that had just occurred to her. "Wait. Do I need to cover my eyes or something? Do you have to get naked?"

I can't help the laugh that erupts out of me. "No. Those of us that are shifters within our group all do so magically. Our clothing shifts with us. There are shifters where the transformation is more of a physiological ability, and they become an animal/humanoid hybrid in their shifted form. Also I know Therianthropes specifically can't transform their clothing." I ponder what I said for a moment. "Those are the only two exceptions I can currently think of."

"Hmm. Remind me what Therianthropes are again?"

"Therianthropes are shifters that can turn into multiple creatures. Usually their forms are primarily of the Earth creature mundane variety, however I think I heard there are rare instances regarding a Therianthrope or two where their instinctive form has been something more mythological in nature."

"Instinctive form?"

"Oh, yes Therianthropes have to collect their forms. I think they have to physically see them in reality for a certain amount of time, or something like that. However, each of them has one instinctive form they are born with." I finally finished explaining. "You were saying you wanted to see my forms."

She smirks. "Other than your horse of course."

"You're sounding Seussical again." I tease her for the unintentional rhyme before I shift into my crow. I hop closer to her and let her inquisitively pet my feathers before hopping away and shifting to my rabbit. Immediately I found myself cupped in her hands. She raises me so I am eye level with her. "Now how did I not see that before? I mean your eyes are still the same color! And whoever heard of a purple-eyed bunny?!" Her hand slides down the soft fur of my back before she admits. "Actually, I do remember now noticing your purple eyes, but I wasn't focused enough to connect the dots at that time."

Nope. She had crumbled to the ground after seeing my brothers for the first time without their glamours. I can only hope and imagine that our visages evoked similar feelings in her body that I felt in my own regarding her body. Her beauty.

A/N:  So did anyone know of the Púca before this?  Did anyone guess this regarding Jk?  I mean I had to keep him a bunny!  ☺