Arda blinked in surprise at Cassie's reaction, before bursting out laughing. "Demigod? No, no, no...imagine, me with a divine parent," she broke off, chuckling to herself. Once she calmed down a bit, though the humor was still clear in her eyes, she continued. "I'm a...well, let me put it this way. I'm a part of a group of people who keep watch over time. Um...I guess the closest thing would be Dr. Who, if I understand that reference correctly, but with a lot less gadgetry, and certainly no police boxes. The needed talents are determined at birth, and if you have the gift...you'll be contacted. We're split into two groups, more or less. The Wardens, who are more of the enforcers...if you run into one of them, you've done something that interferes with the way the timeline should have gone...and then there's the Attuners, who focus on maintenance and experimentation. I'm in the second group, myself. Pretty new at this point, admittedly. Barely far enough along to be getting a field assignment. But I've got enough understanding of how to do what I do that I'm capable of some things. When I said 'Arda' was Akkadian, I wasn't lying...but I left out that I'm, well...from the Akkadian empire. As in, when that civilization existed, a citizen of Akkad. Using a low maintenance spell for translations since I doubt anyone speaks my language anymore, and I don't speak...English, right? Blasted into what for you is the present day by the head of our group to help with this situation. Or rather, a couple weeks ago so I'd have time to learn culture and all that, alongside someone from here who helped transition. My 'test' is real too...this is it, more or less. This assignment. My performance here will reflect what I'm ready to take on next. And before you ask, no, I don't know what I'll accomplish, or anything like that...talking to future or past versions of yourself is strictly prohibited."
She smiled and shrugged. "I can't really talk more about the organization I'm a part of, they tend to frown on people learning when our headquarters is. But yeah, vampires weren't ostracized nearly as much 4000 years ago, and my tutor of this era didn't see fit to tell me. Apparently your kind have changed what you can do in that time too." Another shrug. "So yeah. I'm human. Admittedly an older one than most people walking around today, but still human. The older members of our organization could pass for demigods, I suppose. I'm...think of me as a college student in my field placement. Not inept, but still learning. And far enough along to have my own shard of crystallized time to channel with," she added with a meaningful pat at her sternum. "So, uh, yeah. That's me. Sorry if that was oversharing, I just didn't want you to think that I was all-powerful or anything, as that's just not true. I can pull my weight, just don't expect me to rapidly age whatever caused Sammy to pull the distress signal, or disintegrate it by forcing it across timelines or anything. That stuff is well beyond me."