Chapter 35 - The First Truth
Silas didn't answer her immediately.
He held her gaze like he was measuring how fragile this moment was.
How carefully he needed to place the words.
Athena's heart pounded in her ears.
"Please," she whispered again.
Silas exhaled slowly.
"You are not human."
The words landed between them like a stone dropped into still water.
Athena blinked.
"What?"
"You are not human," he repeated calmly.
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then she laughed.
A small, disbelieving sound.
"That's not funny."
"I'm not joking."
Her smile faded.
She searched his face for any hint that this was some kind of twisted metaphor.
There was none.
Her stomach twisted.
"I'm standing here. Breathing. Bleeding. Eating. That makes me human."
Silas shook his head once.
"It makes you alive. Not human."
Her breathing grew uneven.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Yes," he said quietly. "It does. You just haven't been allowed to see it."
She stepped back from him.
Her mind racing.
"Allowed?"
"Think about what you've felt since you arrived here," Silas continued. "The way your senses sharpened. The way you feel calmer here. The gold in your eyes. The dreams you've had your whole life."
Athena swallowed.
He wasn't wrong.
And that terrified her.
"That doesn't mean I'm... something else," she whispered.
Silas's voice softened slightly.
"You were made to forget what you are."
Her chest tightened painfully.
"Stop saying that like it's fact."
He stepped closer again.
Not threatening.
Grounded.
"Do you remember anything before you were five?"
Her breath caught.
"No."
"Do you know why?"
Her eyes filled with uncertainty.
"No."
Silas's voice lowered.
"Because it was taken from you."
Tears burned behind her eyes.
Her head shook slightly.
"This is insane."
He didn't argue.
He didn't push.
He just watched her, letting the truth sit there between them.
Athena's voice trembled.
"Then what am I?"
Silas held her gaze.
"One of us."