Laurel stared at him, she could not stop herself from moving across the room to the newcomer. Her left hand reaches for his cheek, and touches it so softly, as her right hand touches his chest above his heart. She looked up into his blue eyes and at his hair and his facial features and smiles at him. He takes her hands in his and smiles in kind.

"We are," He begins and in unison they say, "Twins."

"But he is better looking than me," The newcomer tells her.

"No, you are the same." She replies.

"No," He shakes his head, "Yuri got all of the muscle and good looks, I am a skinny pale pathetic excuse...."

"Stop," She tells him. "We are ALL beautiful in our own way, please do not belittle yourself." She looks up, he is over six feet tall and yes, thin but sinewy. He was strong, just not in the same way as Yuri. He was beautiful, and his smile, could melt a cold heart. But there was something there, a kind of sadness and pain that she could not understand.

"We must leave this room," Someone reminds them, "Before the window is shattered."

"Aleksandr Markus," Elizabeta asks, "How do we deal with this bug?"

"Bug?" He walks over and hugs his mother and looks over towards the window, "Oh, like this," he makes a sound that is similar to whistling only he has something in his hand that makes this noise. 

It was then that a great beast flew down from the sky, and roared so furiously that even the Pharents coward behind Laurel, and people ran from the room. It was merely the shadow upon the curtain at first, but he walked to the window and opened it as the great creature gobbled the giant bug in one bite. Laughing, he patted the great thing, and told it "Good girl."

Laurel stood frozen, staring with mouth agape at man and the beast. She knew that this planet was different, but this...this was a DRAGON! A freaking dragon! Scales, tail, claws, everything out of a fairy tale book was standing outside that window like door. She was terrified and yet, she wanted to go out and see it, touch it. 

"This planet is fucking awesome, " She whispered. "It's a fucking dragon!"

That is when it hit her, and hit her hard in the face. The truth, the reality of the whole thing. If this is a dragon, and her people, her planet had written in history books about dragons...well, then these people have been on Earth a hell of a lot longer than they were letting on. She let things run on high through her mind, wanting to know what else from this planet she would recall in her own history books.

"You lied to me Winston." She turns and gives him this glaring pissed off look. "You said that you had not been on Earth very long, and you lied. This is a dragon! We have written legends about them. WRITTEN LEGENDS Winston."

He says nothing, but merely opens and closes his mouth. 

"Unicorns? I suppose you have unicorns too?" She stomps over to him, "Mythological creatures in our story books came from here, didn't they?"

"Uh."

"Sea monsters? Werewolves?" She turns and points to her companion, "They are these beautiful Pharents aren't they?" She walks right up and gets in his face, he tried to just ignore her, but she moves closer until she bumps chests with him.

"Well." He stammers.

"FUCKING ANSWER ME!" She turns red and shouts at him, "You and yours have been dying off for a long time, and don't try and tell me that your not part human, because I know you are. These boys," she points to Yuri and his brothers, "They are YOUR sons, " She jabs at his chest. "How old are you?" She asks as she really examines him, looking at the fine lines on his face.

"It is true," Dimitri tells her gently, "He is their father, I fathered daughters with another woman, an Earth girl much like yourself." He takes her hands in his so gently and turns her from Winston, "We have been on Earth for a very long time, probably since the time of the Pharaohs and maybe even longer than that." 

"Thank you, thank you for the truth." Laurel tells him, "I would have found it out one way or the other, and," She looks at them, "You have to place your trust in people. Are you afraid that we would toss you away if we found out? NO! Perhaps your people helped to shape our world, our ways and our customs, what is so wrong with that? I know we can be violent, but we can also be kind and loving. If you told people the truth and talked about how you helped our world grow, how could anyone be angry with that? HIDING the TRUTH," She glares at Winston, "That will get you banned and your ass kicked."

Laurel steps back and her mind suddenly began to tumble. Pegasus was the Grah-nah-it-lo, and the story of Perseus was of one of them! They were acting like ..acting like GODS! Oh, my God. She thinks to herself as she backs away from them, her hand going to her head as she makes all of these connections. She began linking Gods and Goddesses with creatures that she had seen her so far and it was all true.

"You..... acted....... like..... Gods." She looks up with an expression of horror and confusion every word drug out slowly at this revelation. She continues, "Your people, acted like Gods. Who played Zeus? Oh, let me guess." She quips and points to Zeus. "Stories, that were supposed to be made up. Jesus and Mary? That was one of you. Noah, the flood, Moses. It was all you." 

"Laurel." Winston starts.

"DO not TELL me it was for our own good or to benefit your race or anything else. You have given us nothing but bullshit. The truth, the truth will set you free." She tells them. "Go away, all of you ....leave!" She shouts,  "I want to be alone."

Elizabeta nods, "Let us give her some time to process, and when you are ready, the other elders and I will tell you our story."

 

They left her alone to think, to put things together, but it was not long after they left that she left too. She had shoved her Pharent back inside as she walked out the wide window like door and turned left and followed the path to the corner of the building and stopped. There in front of her were building of all shapes and sizes, and without thought or anyones approval, she took off to explore this extraterrestrial city. 

Many buildings were normal like theirs on Earth, tall skyscraper like things with very clear windows, or perhaps they were doors. Smaller structures that were homes were scattered about the tall buildings and then there were these dodecahedron shaped buildings, that she could not for her life figure them out. Were they homes? Offices? Who knows, but they were fascinating!

It was while she was examining one of them that she runs into a lovely woman who was being escorted by a tall imposing man, "Excuse me." She proclaims and looks Laurel up and down. "She is from Earth," She tells the man.

"Hmm, you should not be running about without an escort," He warns Laurel and sniffs at her, "Especially if you have not bonded, it is dangerous for you dearest child." He motions to her to come closer to them. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I wanted to go to a museum."

"Museum?"

"Yes, a place where it tells the story of your history, your planet, your people."

"The genealogy, that is where you must go." He tells her, "It is just there, do you see the point?"

"Yes, I see it."

"Our history will be found in there. We will follow you and watch that you make it there, it is dangerous for you."

"Why?"

"Black markets, do you know what they are?"

"Yes."

"A young unmarked female like you would be worth a lot," the woman tells her, "do you not have a male?"

"Yuri Romanov."

Their faces changed, "OH!" they exclaimed and looked at one another. 

"Hurry, let us walk with you," He takes her arm. "The weather is changing and it will get colder, and you are barely dressed!"

They move towards the pointed building and as they turn the corner she stops dead in her tracks. There in front of her is a pyramid! Made out of material that she had never seen before, shiny and slick like tar. It was magnificent, and she marveled at its creation.

"Hurry," The woman tells her, "We need her to get off the street, she will be safe in there."

"Agreed," he replies and they hurry Laurel to the building and as they approach, he rushed to open the door. "Stay inside, do not come out, there are many people here that have their eyes upon you."

"Okay, thank you very much." Laurel tells them.

"Take this coat," the woman offers her.

"I couldn't take it, but thank you."

"You must, it will get colder, and you are human after all."

Laurel smiles and shakes her head as the woman places the coat about her shoulders, then turns to enter the building and turns back to wave goodbye to them. They stood in the doorway, as if blocking anyone from entering and she could see others walking towards them as she moved into the foyer.

Laurel turns to look inside and sees statues of men and women over seven feet tall. Poliudus, Amerteia, Comodiaus, Valantia, Xerentus. Roman names, she thought, Roman garb it appeared too, but she could not be sure. There were bow and arrows, swords and axes, weapons from many centuries. 

"Can I help you?" A male voice asks.

Laurel turns to see a man not unlike the statues before her and asks, "Where are your books? Your written history?"

"Ah, we have many books but you may not be able to read them." He observers her carefully, "I see you are interested in these statues,would you like me to tell you about them?"

"Yes, please." She begins and then changes her mind, "No, I think I want to read your history and then you may tell me about these statues."

"Very well," He examines her, "You came from the healers, that light sleeveless tunic and breeches will not keep you warm, I will light a fire in the reading hall for you."

"Thank you," She says shifting uncomfortably, realizing how bare her shoulders and neck are for the first time, even though she had a coat pressed around her.

They walk to this great hall filled with books, massive and beautiful, she lightly touches their spines. She could not tell what they said on them, but she knew that she would find what she was looking for here. All civilizations have books relating to their language and how it was created, if she starts there she could discover how to read these other books.

"Please, do you have books on your language? Perhaps I could have some paper to take notes?"

"As you wish." He bows and turns to gather parchment and pen and returns it to her and then walks to a giant fireplace and begins to light it after filling it with wood and what appeared to be cotton.

"Our books on language is here," He walks her across the large room, "Perhaps you should start with this one," He hands her a book, "I shall gather these and bring them to you." He waves his hand in front of five other books, and she nods in thanks.

Laurel could understand much of what she saw inside these pages, she could not pronounce them, but she was getting a loose grasp of their language. She used the pen and parchment to take notes on what she read, and soon it was getting late. She had felt the air shift around her as morning went to afternoon and then evening. It was odd, this room had but one window, but she could feel the passage of time here. 

Time went on, and she lost all thoughts in the bound pages before her, and she felt so tired all of a sudden.

 

"WHERE IS SHE?" Yuri roared.

"We do not know, she was here when she told you all to leave." An healer responds to Yuri, "I saw her standing there, just as you did."

"Darling," His mother begins, "Let's look around here, perhaps she is wandering the halls." 

"Yes, good idea," Dimitri agrees, "We will all spread out and search." He waves his hands and motions for them to go.

"It is alright, we will find her." Tahla tells them as she rushes away to find Sanlio.

"Sir," She grabs at Sanlios garb," Laurel has left her room."

"She left? Are you sure?" He asks rising from his chair in his office. "Find Aleksandr Markus, discreetly," he warns her,"tell him to use the Pharent and find her."

"Alright, thank you Sir." She stops, "How did you know that she left the beast?"

" I saw it wandering the halls. Now go." He waves his hands around, "Go, go on, quickly." He shoos her out the door.

 

It was many hours before he found her, it was getting dark as he and the Pharent turned toward the pyramid, they had been distracted by the smell of the couple that had held her gently by the arms and escorted her to the genealogy. They were kind to her, and told him everything, and that meant a great deal to him as he knew it would his brother.

His brother, Yuri, his twin. Lucky, good looking bastard, always got what he wanted. He lived off of those looks, not that he was not good looking, and before the incident he was pretty built himself. He was not quite as large as Yuri, but he was pretty damned close, there was perhaps fifty pounds difference between them.

They were seventeen when it happened, Yuri had just stepped out of the bathroom and he had been laying in bed with his eyes closed. He had thought it was Yuri coming over to harass him again, and that is when he felt the first pang of pain and he tried to fight it, he tried to yell but nothing came out. He saw at one point his brother just standing there, letting it happen, a nearly perfect smile on his face.

It was the Sha-Neish, or the death bird, black as night itself. He had told Yuri to close the window, so had their parents, many times that night. Did he listen? No. It was luck or fortune or something, that their father had returned to check on the boys and found this nightmare. Yuri had moved and was sitting pale upon his bed, frozen in fear, but he saw the smile on his brothers face beneath the lying mask.  The bird tearing at his twin, Aleksandr Markus, who was crying out to try and get the bird to go away. It was horrible, he recalls as he walks into the building and shakes his head to clear the memory from his mind.

"A girl, human, did she come here?"

"In healing garb?" 

"Yes, she might have come earlier today?"

"Come, I will direct you to her." He makes a grand gesture with his arm to wave Aleksandr Markus towards the room of books that he had safely placed her in. "She is in here, I have used every precaution to keep her safe."

"Thank you," he looks at the Pharent beside him, "Stay."

The door opens and he walks into a warm lit room, thousands of books sitting upon shelves unused and unopened in many years. He marvels at their colors and sizes as he rounds a set of shelves and see her. She is sitting at a table, parchment and books strewn everywhere, and her head resting on her right arm as if sleep could no longer wait. 

Her neck and shoulder is bare on the left side, her hair barely covering that most sensitive flesh. He could smell her, even from here, he could smell the wonderful scent that she gave off. He could see how the fire made her hair look so beautiful, giving it a lovely golden like glow. He stepped closer, and closer again, until his fingers could touch her luscious mane. It was slightly curly in some places and thick with curls in others.

Her hands, he noticed, were black from the ink that she used. No one used parchment any more, so it was odd that she had been given it to use, perhaps the teller knew something that he did not. She has a small black spot of ink on her forehead he notes as he leans forward to glance at her lovely face. Even in sleep she is ...she is magnificent.

A stab of pain grips him as he watches her, on the left side just below the ribs, and he felt like doubling over. Bending slightly, so near the sensitive flesh of her neck where it meets the shoulder, feeling pain and then. He knew that he shouldn't. She was promised to Yuri, but he felt a stirring inside him so deep that he could not put words to it as he reached around her and took her in his arms, his lips poised ever so slightly above that heavenly spot. She was still facing the table, and he had his chest against her back, and slowly he lowered his lips to her skin.

She squirmed a little, moans escaping her lips as he marked her with his mouth. A hand brushes at her cleavage and she squirms more, but cannot fight the bonding. He lifts her up from the chair, turning her to face him, he tilts her head so that he can once again taste the sweet nectar of her flesh.

"Mine," he thinks, "she is mine."