I expected to read about the ancient Greek Gods in beautiful tunics. But they appeared to be naked on the pages of the books. Do they still live on Olympus like this, given that everyone is a brother, a father or a son to each other? Strange traditions…

I recalled the image that I could not get out of my mind.

"Darsy…" someone was shaking my shoulder, except it was reaching my mind from afar. "Darsy, wake up!"

I opened my eyes and blankly looked at Eugene. He pursed his lips sarcastically.

"WHAT? Like you never sleep!"

"If you haven't changed your mind about going home yet, it is high time now."

I nodded and we left the library. Once again we saw the passage that I did not want to enter. My stomach dropped at the thought of a recent trip.

"What are you waiting for? When I enter the portal it will be closed. Don't you want to go back?"

"I want. Is there another way?"

"There's no other way out of here."

I went inside with a dull moan and immediately felt like a sausage placed in a vacuum meter.

"What am I going to tell Jackson?" it was a rhetorical question, said almost in a whisper, but Eugene heard.

"Whoever it is, don't say anything about what's happened today and what's waiting for you in the future."

"I can't lie to him. We've known each other since we were kids. He was the first to know my secrets, and I knew his."

"Spare me the details," he waved. "But remember, as soon as you tell him, if he believes you, of course, this will put his life at risk."

"Will he be killed?"

"No. We have services that make sure that our world is hidden from you. They erase the memories that occasionally appear due to the carelessness of the Murky Shadows or other creatures. But some moments can't be replaced by confusing memories or erased, so the human must be removed. He can live but in a different form. Long-term comas, total memory loss, alcohol addiction and so on – all this is convincing for you and safe for us. Who would believe a homeless man with a sign of the end of the world or demons wandering down the street? Who would believe a drug addict who saw something unnatural? Sometimes the witnesses are simply erased like they never existed. One or two – it doesn't matter, even the mother wouldn't notice. So, I don't recommend telling anything!"

It was hardly a simple recommendation, rather a warning, which, as hard as it was for me, I would have to follow. I never hid anything from Jackson. As children, we were notorious conspirators, often against the entire world. He was always my closest friend. Even when my family moved, we found a way to see each other until he was transferred to my new school for his final year. How was I supposed to keep this secret?

"Why are you hiding? As far as I know, many thousands of years ago, the population worshipped the Gods, and the prayers of the people imbued them with power."

"It was a long time ago. A lot has changed since then. The faith of the people crushed, turned into a religion. Everyone who disagreed invented his own God and forced his loved ones to believe in those Gods. Over the years, different religions caused wars and pestilences. In a moment of fanaticism, people destroyed the temples of the Gods and the ancient reliquiae, making the irreparable damage to themselves and us. They stopped to believe but not to curse. It was therefore decided to bury the truth in oblivion and to cherish the illusion. Things have changed for us ever since. We stopped worrying that insatiability and hostility would destroy the remains of your civilization. The people themselves began to preserve the reliquiae as rarities, without which everything will die. Now, we make sure that things stay the way they are, and people protect what is so precious to us from themselves.

I hardly understood the true meaning of what was said and the motives of the Gods. But if they thought it was for the best, then it probably was so. I myself often noticed the prose of this world and was amazed. But Eugene was right: people carefully preserve all the archaeological findings behind bulletproof glass, fences, and thick walls. It was always never enough for us and, at the moment, Eugene's words seemed right to me – we were like parasites. We had too little faith and too much greed. We tried to get everything out of life, not thinking about the consequences, destroying everything that could prevent us from getting what we wanted.

That's how people destroyed not only civilizations, but also the Universe, prowling other planets in search of resources for their existence.

"What reliquiae do you mean?"

"If it's the will of the Gods, you'll find this out at the right time."

The portal opened near my front door. This time I managed not to fall down, though it was difficult. I was shaking and felt sick, but carefully hid it not to experience the disdainful look of these strange eyes once again.

"We're going hunting tonight!" said Eugene as the last word and disappeared in the portal.

I was so tired that I did not ask any questions. I wanted to get to the bed and sleep for twenty-four hours in a row.

It was almost dawn, so Jackson had not left for work and was still sleeping. When I got to the door and opened it, I found out that Jackson was at home but awake. He jumped up to me and hugged. I had to explain everything…

"What happened? I couldn't get why you ran away."

"I'm sorry. I just freaked out. It's probably nerves, and you're right: I'm so silly!"

"It's okay! I'm with you!" he was stroking my back in circular motions. It always calmed me down.

"How's your hand?"

"Everything's okay. It's good that I'm not allergic to bee venom."

"WHAT?

"Well, my hand didn't swell after the bee sting, and if something was wrong, we're lucky to be right next to the hospital. Why did you run away?"

"I was scared of the bee," I lied. "And then I got lost. I left my handbag in your car. I couldn't call you, so I had to go home on foot."

Jackson made a cup of tea and cooked dinner or breakfast already. And after that, we went to bed to get some sleep before work.

I fell asleep, curling up in the arms of my boyfriend, in the safest place in the world.

The Guardians' Abode. The Commander's Office.

His footsteps were fast and silent as always. He was focused and determined. The Commander's office appeared around the corner. Eugene was running out of time, but at whatever cost he had to talk to Tol before hunting.

The Commander was not in the office. Eugene hesitated for a minute and decided to wait for him. He began to walk around the office in circles, expressing his impatience in this way.

Waiting took quite a long time, but Eugene decided that he could not postpone the conversation with the Commander. An hour later, Tol entered the office and raised his eyebrows. He did not tolerate strangers in his office without his presence. It was good that only Eugene allowed himself this privilege.

"Don't you have a mission? Haven't I explained to you the task?"

"I understood perfectly well, but Darsy wished to go home. She didn't even want to hear of staying here. People like to create their own problems. I decided not to interfere and see where their praised freedom of choice will lead."

"Eugene, if something happens while you're not around…" Tol began, but Eugene interrupted him.

"What could happen to her in bed? Or do you want me to watch her at night? Then I’m out of it. I'm not going to babysit two teenagers," Eugene screwed up his face. He involuntarily had a vague memory of those scenes that he had seen during his missions: lustful people, wandering around, making out at every corner, indulged in debauchery and other foul actions right on the deserted streets of cities.