Night was falling over Gu-Hoit City, but unlike what one might think, the city never truly slept. The skyscrapers shimmered, illuminating every street, every avenue, giving the whole an almost supernatural glow. Here, the night was not a silence; it seemed rather a breath, a moment when the city resumed its secret rhythm.Sakolomé² walked at a calm pace, hands buried in his pockets, lost in thought. Wendy's revelations spun over and over in his mind, tirelessly.He stopped for a moment, staring at the asphalt shining under the streetlights, and wondered how all this could be possible. Should he try to peer into other space-times to find answers? But what's the use? The Library of Existence governed all lives across dimensions, and since he had become a pseudo-deviant, he had disappeared from this framework.
This meant that, in the infinity of possible realities, no alternative version of him existed.
No more past, no more present. There remained only a singular existence, floating in a space where only he could decide where to place himself through causality.
Sakolomé² sighed and resumed walking. It was then that a silhouette caught his attention.
A familiar silhouette."But… could that be Dan?" he murmured to himself.
And indeed, it was him. Dan wore a black hoodie that partially concealed his face, making his way quickly through the crowd as if he were in a hurry to reach an unknown destination.
Sakolomé² watched him for a moment, shrugging. He had first thought about following him, but something told him it might not be necessary.He took a few steps to resume his path. And yet, a shiver ran down his spine. A brutal, irresistible intuition:I must follow him...He then headed toward Dan, without being noticed immediately.Dan was crossing alleyways and had been walking for several minutes, while Sakolomé² followed discreetly, making no noise. It was strange, as if Dan was trying to leave the city.They arrived at a place covered with sparse vegetation. Below, a waterfall poured into the black night.
Sakolomé² murmured: "What could he possibly be looking for in such a place, at such a late hour?"Dan pulled off his hood. His gaze was dark, sad, empty.
He breathed softly, while a slight breeze coming from the waterfall brushed his hair.Then, he extended his hand, and a blue flame appeared, flickering, on his palm.
Sakolomé²'s eyes widened: "But… what is that?"
Dan tried to get closer to the flame, but Sakolomé² immediately shouted: "Stop!"Caught in the act, Dan looked at Sakolomé², surprised: "Master?"Sakolomé² slowly stepped forward, his red eyes piercing the darkness."What were you doing... Dan?" he asked firmly.
Dan made the flame disappear, lowered his hands. His sad gaze returned to his face, while a pensive expression formed, as if holding back something deeply suffocating.
"I asked you a question. I'm waiting for an answer… Dan!" insisted Sakolomé².
Dan opened his mouth, but before he could speak, tears streamed down his cheeks.
"I… I just wanted to train…"Sakolomé² immediately guessed Dan's lie:
"You were using a fire capable of destroying you down to your mind, Dan.
You don't take me for an idiot, I hope.
"Then Dan burst into sobs and screamed: "I wanted to end it… That's it, I wanted to commit suicide. I've had enough, I can no longer hope.
I hoped too much, master… Three years already.
It has been three years since my sister disappeared. It's no longer just a disappearance, she is dead, that's the truth.
No matter how much I refuse to admit it, it's clear… I can't keep fooling myself like this…"Sakolomé² gently placed his hands on Dan's shoulders.
"Dan… calm down!" he ordered, his voice firm but warm.Dan raised his eyes, still red and wet, while his mouth trembled.
The silence of the night weighed on them, yet Sakolomé² knew.
Everything. It was like a vision: he had seen Dan burn in his own flame even before the act happened. He had stopped the worst in time, saving his body and mind from a fatal fall."Dan… I told you I would help you, didn't I? I promised I would do everything I could for you…" murmured Sakolomé², his look penetrating. "So why want to end your life already? When I haven't even finished my research yet…"Dan shook his head, short of breath, sobs barely held back.
"It's too late, master…" he said in a broken voice. "She… she's probably been dead for a long time. Even you… I don't think you could help me in a case like this…"A slight smile split Sakolomé²'s face, both soft and determined.
"Dan… tell me… what is your sister's name?"Dan gasped, his gaze lost but still moist.
"Nehan… Nehan Hasu…"Sakolomé² nodded as if that simple name carried a whole world. Hasu… their last name.
Perhaps the last bearers, since even their parents had gone, and the rest of their family was lost in the shadow of oblivion.Sakolomé²'s smile widened, more assured this time.
"Dan… if you have given up, then let me do it for you. Look at me closely… I will find your sister.
Even if she's hiding in the realm of the dead, I will go look for her for you.
Nehan… I will bring her back to you."A gust of wind made Dan shiver.
For the first time in a long while, a flicker of hope seemed to dawn in his eyes.Dan let his head fall, moved by Sakolomé²'s words though not fully convinced.
A knot of uncertainty tightening his chest, his confused mind no longer knew where to place his hope or what to cling to.— Dan… murmured Sakolomé².He slowly lifted his head, eyes still wet.
— Master… I think it's too late. You may be trying to comfort me, but it's been like this for three years… Nehan is… dead.A brief chuckle, light and without malice, escaped Sakolomé².
— Dan, do you have proof that she is dead? he asked, voice soft but sharp.
Dan opened his mouth to answer, but Sakolomé² cut him off, as if what would follow must come from elsewhere.
— Let me tell you a story, he said. When I was twelve, I knew a girl. Her name was Melinda.Sakolomé² paused for a moment, his gaze lost in the distance, and the night around them seemed to stretch to listen.
— She was a child marked by life. She had fled her village — the whole village was dead. Rumors, fear, loneliness… she carried all that as one wears an oversized garment. We were inseparable.
We laughed, we fought over nonsense, we shared everything. Then, one day, she disappeared.Dan's eyes widened.— Everyone… stammered Dan.Sakolomé² nodded, a gentle melancholy coloring his features.
— Yes. Everyone. For years, I had only one memory of her: a teddy bear, all worn out. It was the only proof she had existed, that I had not imagined her. The years passed — twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen — and the silence remained.
Dan was silent, hanging onto every word. The story seemed to slide over his pain, polishing it without erasing.
— Then, at fifteen, a new student arrived at my school. She looked different physically, but… deep down, it was the same.
Over time, I ended up believing it was just a resemblance, nothing more. We lived things together, moments that seemed familiar, then came that day — the day she died.Sakolomé² inhaled as if the air cost him.— That day, she whispered to me the day of her death… that she was Melinda. Not a resemblance. Her. Until her last breath, she told me the truth.The confession fell between them like a fine rain. Dan, who had just been overwhelmed by doubt, felt something crack inside him — a fissure through which a faint light began to shine.Dan, surprised: "What? She was alive? And why announce it on the day of her death? What exactly did she die from?"Sakolomé² sighed, as if this story was tearing his own heart apart: "She died, killed by the spirit of the infamous village she came from, that spirit that had already wreaked havoc and killed everyone. That spirit followed her... She disappeared because she was abducted… well, anyway…"Sakolomé looked again at Dan: "Dan... don't lose hope. Even after twenty years, you could be surprised to learn that your sister is still alive somewhere, and that there might be a reason that has kept her from coming back to you immediately.
"Dan looked up to the black sky and wiped his tears.
Sakolomé² then resumed, with painful conviction: "You know… I have always had this conviction that Sally lives somewhere in the world of the dead. Maybe she watches me, or maybe she can't. But sooner or later, I will go look for her. Yet, I have already believed she was dead, especially when it happened right before my eyes.
"Sakolomé² removed his hands from Dan's shoulders and smiled gently: "So you, don't worry.
You already have an advantage: you don't know if your sister is really dead or not. But believe me, I promise you that even if she is in the world of the dead, I will go find her. So, Dan… don't die right away, okay?"