Seven Sins - Second Part | BTS x Reader

Journey I

As you climb up the stairs, you can feel Daimon still fuming behind you. Thinking about it now, you're not exactly sure why he reacted the way he did, but you're also not sure whether you should ask him about it or not.
The thoughts occupy you for a while, but you didn't realize just for how long. Right when you want to address Daimon about what happened earlier, you see a hint of light a few dozen stair steps above you.
Unsure of whether you're imagining things, you stop in your tracks. Just a second later, a gentle breeze cools your face.

You take a deep breath.
Air. Fresh air.
Or what you assume is fresh air – it's full of so many scents you could never make out when you were a human. You smell animals, plants, yesterday's rain, the earth, smoke from chimneys far away. Nothing smells the same, and the amount of information almost overwhelms your brain. The feeling of the soft breeze is enough to almost makes your skin hurt, probably from your sense of touch being overwhelmed. You haven't felt any kind of shift in the air for a long time – or any natural movement, for that matter.

At some point of you standing there, Daimon gently nudges you in the back. "We need to get moving", he hisses. When you throw a glance back, his silver eyes are glowing in the dark, reflecting the little daylight that made it down here like a cat's. "We need to get out of the town before the sun rises."
The closer you get to the exit, formerly entrance, the more nervous you become. Pictures start flashing before your eyes, memories to be precise. How your mom walked you down the long way towards gaping, black hole in the ground; how the people of your village listened to the announcement of the 1956th Day of Descent and looked at you with a mixture of irrational fear and sadness and how the first slippery, rocky steps of the stairway felt under your wobbly shoes.
You take a deep breath, yet again craving the satisfaction that humans would get from it. A few steps separate you from your old world and all the people within you.

White covers are fluttering in front of the entrance, thin white sheets of fine fabric. You remember now that the village only uncovered the entrance when the Day of Descent arrived. For the other 364 days of the year, the hole was covered up, as it frightened children and even adults with its whispering breezes and deep darkness.
Before you can step outside, Daimon swiftly slips past you. He raises a hand to stop you, then carefully peeks out the curtains. After he's thoroughly assessed the surroundings, he steps aside and lets you go first.

You shove the fabric to the side and step out onto the marketplace where the ritual of the Descent was held. On Tuesdays and Fridays, you used to buy bread, vegetables and sometimes meat here, but as it's late night, the village now lies empty and dark.

A painful sting runs through your chest when you realize you could just walk for a while and visit your mom, but you know you cannot. The sweet scent underneath all the other smells is tempting, and you're all too aware of what it is. Jin warned you of it when you talked about the travel.
"Human souls smell delicious to demons, especially young ones", he said, looking at you sternly. "At your age, you have too little experience to make out which ones are 'good' and which ones are 'spoiled'. Everything will seem delicious to you. If you smell a strong, sweet scent, avoid it. The stronger it is, the closer its source is."

Again, Daimon nudges you. "Let's move", he says quietly, straightening to his full height. He doesn't seem afraid of being seen by humans.
"The village is asleep", he explains when he notices your surprised glance. "There is no immediate rush, but we shouldn't dawdle."
He takes it upon him to lead you out of the village while you admire the familiar houses with mixed feelings. You can feel and hear the humans behind the walls, but Daimon makes sure you keep a safe distance from them. He seems all too aware of the danger they pose to you – or rather the danger you pose to them.

He only seems to relax a little when you reach the meadows that surround the village, bordered by deep, dark woods in the distance. You throw a last glance back while he already makes his way through the knee-high grass and it feels as if you're leaving something behind for the second time.
"Y/N?", Daimon asks and you quickly turn around, forcefully ripping your glance from where you remember your mom's house to be.
"I'm coming", you say and catch up to him.

Daimon and you remain quiet until the sun starts to emerge from the horizon, spreading its way too bright rays across the meadows and stinging in your eyes. Slowly, the birds start singing and the darkness pulls back more and more, revealing the astounding beauty of this world to your demonic senses. You are now aware of things you've never noticed before – the abundance of scurrying, tiny life around you; the finely tuned melodies of the birds' songs; the sound of water and wind in the distance. It's a fascinating experience, and Daimon has to urge you to continue walking more than once. But his words are soft and gentle and you assume that he lets you linger more than he originally intended to.

When you've finally gotten used to everything and the fascination is very slowly starting to wear off, you start to think about Daimon again. You know little about him, you realize, and somehow it's bothering you when he's the one who will accompany and protect you on this journey.
"Daimon, can I ask you a question?", you say when you finally can't bear the silence anymore. The young man throws a short glance back. His silver eyes seem almost white in the sunlight and his pupils are almost invisible, having turned into fine slits.
"Sure", he answers.

"How old are you?", you start off with the easiest question you can think of. Daimon seems to think for a moment before he looks back ahead and replies.
"Around 1500 years", he says and you can't help a little sound of surprise. "That's... relatively young", you say, reminding yourself that 1500 years is nothing compared to Jin's or Yoongi's age.
The familiar chuckles. "Indeed. There are beings much older than me out there", he says. He doesn't seem bitter or mad about it, which surprises you yet again. Given his former arrogance, you always assumed he was very ambitious and wary of any competition.
"For how long have you stayed with Jimin, then?", you continue asking. You realize a bit too late that the question might offend or remind him of better times, and this time Daimon takes a bit longer to respond.
"A few hundred years", he then says slowly. A short pause forms during which you wonder whether you are allowed to ask another question, but actually, he continues.
"Young familiars are very weak, and contrary to demons, we have a sort of 'family' that raises us in the beginning. Against common belief we don't actually just pop out of the air whenever a demon needs us, although supporting them is our purpose." He shrugs. "Noone actually knows why. But, for the first hundred years of our life, we are relatively weak and unappealing to almost all demons. During that time, we hone our skills, and when we're ready, we start roaming."

"Do you miss your family?", you ask. A sharp glance from him makes you almost regret your words, but then his expression softens a little and a tiny smirk plays around his lips.
"Family means nothing to us", he says. "I already told you our purpose is to support demons. Our Bound is the only thing that matters to us." He starts rolling up the sleeves of his white, loose shirt and slows in his tracks.

"Enough of this, for now. We've walked far enough."
He turns to you and smiles. Fangs glisten between his otherwise normal teeth.

"Ready for some teleportation?"