Thousands of kilometers from the clearing, high in the sky, a sinister castle, reminiscent of a horror movie, could be seen floating in the air. Inside this castle, in a dark room, five people sat around a large table. They were dressed identically, in red tunics with white hoods. The atmosphere in this room was enough to chill the blood of any living being. The only sources of light were candles placed in certain corners of the room and on the table. Each of the members sitting at this table gave off a murderous aura.
"Time to begin... Where are the others?" asked the man at the back of the table, his expression more sinister than the others and his face masked by the darkness of the room.
"Mars is in Andromeda to retrieve the third fragment. Venus must still be sleeping somewhere. As for Saturn, who knows... You never know where that guy is," replied one of the members sitting to the left of the man at the back of the table.
"Hahaha! Ahahahah!!!" burst out laughing from the only young woman in the room. A terrible laugh.
"Stop laughing stupidly, Mercury. A lady isn't supposed to behave like that in front of men," said a burly man sitting opposite the young girl.
"Ahahahaha! I laugh when I want, where I want, my little Jupiter! Or I might as well freeze your soul! Ahahahahah!" replied the young woman, continuing to laugh at the top of her lungs.
"Pitiful! You're making a pitiful sight! Do I need to remind you why we're gathered here?" said the young man with his eyes closed and his hands clasped in front of him, sitting next to Mercury. He also had some sort of large rosary around his neck.
"Yes, go ahead, Uranus, remind us why we're gathered here," Mercury replied in a voice that sounded as if it were from the year forty.
"Well, we're gathered here to... Uh, we're gathered here because... Uh, we... Say, Neptune, why are we gathered here again? I forgot..." stammered Uranus, who didn't seem to remember the reasons for their meeting.
"Ahahahahaha! Poor Uranus, always so far to the west, you don't change! Who knows? I'll surely have to freeze your soul so that you'll remember next time," said Mercury, still laughing.
"That's enough!" shouted the man at the back of the table.
"This meeting is pointless if the third fragment is missing... That incompetent Mars, I entrusted him with this mission seven days ago... When he returns, you will retrieve the fifth fragment... It has only just awakened!" he continued.
"All right! Your Majesty," replied Neptune.
"And be careful not to disappoint me," said the man, his face masked by darkness.
"The long-awaited day is approaching... We have never been so close to our destiny... After thousands of years, we will finally be able to fulfill our ultimate wish... We will be able to unite everything," he continued, a smile on his face.
Finally arriving at their home, Bertrand and Benjamin had Kyriel installed in his room. An hour had passed since their arrival, but despite all their attempts, the young boy still hadn't woken up. It was as if he had been plunged into an eternal sleep. Even stranger was the apple he continued to clutch in his hand, even unconscious.
"What could have happened to put him in this state?" asked Clé.
"Apart from the fact that he's so sound asleep, there are two things that intrigue me. How did he manage to clutch that apple despite being unconscious? And how did we find him without a single drop of water on his body despite the torrential rain? Without any dampness on his clothes?" wondered Bertrand.
"Your father still hasn't come home?" asked Marie St. Patrick, sitting at her son's bedside.
"No, no sign of him so far," replied Clé.
With the exception of Chloé, Nicole, Audrey, and Grégoire, all the St Patricks were gathered in Kyriel's room, wondering about his condition and the events that had occurred moments before they found Kyriel.
"A torrential rainstorm that suddenly starts, a blinding light that appears, then disappears immediately after the light appears, and Kyriel lying on the trunk of the eternal apple tree, an apple in his hand... None of this rings a bell," said Benjamin questioningly.
"What if he was the one behind all this?" suggested Dylan St Patrick.
"Stop talking nonsense. Kyriel has never displayed any ART energy. How could he possibly trigger a flood and stop it? That's completely stupid," retorted Bertrand.
"But imagine for just one moment that his ART element had manifested and that, as a result, he ended up in this state," wondered Clé.
"Okay, so let's also say that he climbed the eternal apple tree, while we're at it... You two seem to have agreed to talk nonsense tonight," replied Bertrand, annoyed.
"That's enough! I think we should let him rest and get out of his room. Your father might know what to do when he gets back. All we can do is thank God for making sure we found him safe and sound," declared Marie, sounding bored. So, everyone left the young apprentice's room.
Time passed, but the father of the family still hadn't returned. This absence, while intriguing, was nothing compared to the concerns about Kyriel's condition, and so no one really worried about Gregory's fate. It was after 11:00 p.m. when Father St. Patrick finally returned home. He opened the central door and found his wife sitting with a lit candle before her, her eyes closed and hands clasped, intent on her prayer. When she heard the door open, she opened her eyes and saw her husband.
"Where did you come from? I was worried," she said.
"Somewhere... I had something important to do," he replied.
"In the rain? And at such an hour?" Mary asked.
"Yes, the rain found me on the path, and I took shelter... Sorry to have worried you," said Gregory.
"You're back, that's the main thing... But something worrying happened while you were gone," Marie continued.
"What?" he asked.
"Kyriel still didn't come home despite the rain, even though he was in the clearing. Overcome with worry, I sent Bertrand and Benjamin to look for him, and when they found him, he was lying on the trunk of the apple tree," Marie explained.
"What apple tree? The eternal apple tree?" Gregory asked.
"Yes, but that's not the worrying thing. When they found him, he was holding an apple in his hand, and when we came back, we tried to wake him for over an hour, but nothing. And as for the apple, he's still clutching it in his hand," the worried mother continued to explain.
"Where is he?" Gregory asked.
"In his room," the mother replied.
"I'll see what I can do, but make sure no one disturbs me," the head of the family said very seriously.
"Why do you want such privacy?" she wondered.
"Just do as I say this once... Sorry, but I can't tell you more," he replied.
Father St. Patrick seemed to have understood what was happening to his son and the means necessary to wake him. Seeing his serious expression, Mary was even more worried, as she now realized the gravity of the situation.
Upon entering Kyriel's room, Gregory closed the door from the inside, as if to ensure some privacy. Mixed emotions were evident on his face, a mixture of joy and sadness.
"So, the day I dreaded the most and at the same time the one I most eagerly awaited has finally arrived. Kyriel, you have finally achieved... the enlightenment of your ART. I am both extremely proud and deeply saddened for you," declared the father, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I hope that one day you will understand the reasons that guided me and that you will be able to forgive me... Everything I do and have done so far has been for the sole purpose of your common well-being," he continued.
After saying these words, he placed his right hand on Kyriel's forehead, and when he removed it, a mysterious seal briefly appeared on the young apprentice's forehead before disappearing immediately. Then, he opened the door and left the room, leaving Kyriel lying there, the apple still clutched in his hand.