Everything was ready for departure.
Sofia finished checking the supplies and stored them in metal crates. From now on, they would be carried by Gaius during the journey.
Earlier, she had also reviewed the route with Giovanni. Together, they created a physical map, in case the boy became unable to guide them during the trip, for any reason.
After the hard work, everyone agreed to take a few minutes off before beginning the expedition.
While each sought a moment for themselves, Eric chose to meditate in his room, Shelly preferred to relax lying down, and Giovanni headed for the hot spring chamber.
Speaking of the springs, his time was already up.
Sofia grabbed the towel she had set aside for herself and went down the stairs unhurriedly. His time there had passed; now it was her turn.
How did things end up like this so quickly?
For a brief instant, everything seemed fine. In the next moment, it collapsed. Perhaps this was the result of ignoring problems until they knocked on the door.
For the sake of coexistence, Sofia had chosen not to let the conversation influence her actions, but the boy was not managing to do the same.
He was avoiding the others as much as he could, obsessed with his part of the plan.
She felt somewhat lonely. Eric, though he did not treat her badly, seemed incapable of seeing her as a person.
Shelly actively refused to speak with her.
So seeing her friend isolating himself felt like the final nail in the coffin.
'Everything will be fine…'
Gently, the girl knocked on the chamber door, making her presence clear.
"Giovanni? I think your time's up."
When no response came, dark thoughts invaded her mind. Was she being ignored? Or had something worse happened?
"Giovanni?"
She knocked a few more times. Her anxiety grew, reaching a boiling point. Something had to be wrong.
Without wasting time, she ran to the adjacent room. She quickly shed her clothes and wrapped herself in a towel.
"I'm coming in, okay?!"
Her hand pushed the chamber door open. The place was completely devoid of lighting.
The hot steam touched her skin, but brought no relaxation.
It was impossible to see anything inside, so the girl was forced to activate her Aspect, guiding herself by the information she gathered about the area she was looking at.
She first identified the boundary between the rocky floor and the water, and then the only person using the facility.
There he was. The boy was apparently sitting in the spring, his head resting against the edge.
Giovanni slept without a single worry in the world.
Sofia let out a deep breath, unsure whether she felt relief or embarrassment.
'I'm stupid…'
That was the most obvious answer, and the last thing that crossed her mind. He must have been exhausted after hours of work, so who wouldn't take a short nap?
She walked to the edge and knelt, trying to wake her friend with gentle stimulation. When Giovanni showed no sign of waking up, red alarms flared.
"Giovanni, wake up!"
That shouldn't have been possible.
Her friend was immune to the song.
A chill ran through her body, reaching her soul.
That familiar sensation could only mean one thing.
Without hesitation, her consciousness entered her own Soul Sea, just in time to encounter a vision capable of freezing her blood.
The flowered field, usually bathed in sunlight…
was submerged in darkness.
***
He dreamed of the city that had already taken so much from him.
His breath formed clouds of vapor in the air, and his steps sank into the snow.
With a rosary on his chest and simple secondhand clothes, Giovanni walked through the streets, seeking distance from the orphanage.
The last thing he needed right now was to deal with the farce happening there.
The sisters had the right to lie to the rest, just as they had lied to him, but that did not make the feeling in his chest any less volatile.
All of this was so stupid!
Maybe he should just pack everything he owned into a bag and leave, never to return.
But going without food sounded pretty bad…
Sleeping on the ground would probably be painful and dirty.
And scary strangers would always be nearby!
"I'm not running away… not this time," he muttered irritably.
The idea of abandoning the orphanage couldn't have been more fleeting. After wandering for so long, he ended up arriving at a familiar place.
The neighborhood police station stirred no positive feelings.
Especially now that he knew his siblings were sent there instead of to a loving home. Giovanni could see silhouettes moving inside, always busy and hurried.
Adults rarely stayed still for long.
He walked to the small bench outside, wanting to rest his aching legs. His stomach growled with hunger, but he refused to return so soon.
If he stayed gone long enough, they would certainly miss him.
It was the perfect way to get back at them for having deceived him.
"Enjoying the view, kid?"
Giovanni jumped in surprise, only now noticing a man sitting beside him. When had he gotten there?!
If it weren't a familiar face, he would have been terrified.
Omar, covered head to toe in a special government uniform, looked out over the rest of the city with his legs crossed. Unlike the boy, who trembled with cold, the awakened man relaxed, unaffected.
"Y-Yeah…" he murmured, not wanting to talk about it.
Five years younger, the officer had not yet become a master. His slumped expression and restrained demeanor were very different from what he would one day become.
"My mother always said everything is better with company… well, almost everything. Mind if I join you?"
Giovanni wanted to be alone, but didn't dare to refuse. He only nodded. In response, Omar draped his thick coat over the kid.
"Children shouldn't wander the streets alone like this. Lately, many have been disappearing when no one's looking. You might've been next, boy."
"Me?!"
The man rummaged through his backpack while casually filling the youngest orphanage resident with horror stories, finding a trace of humor in it. Giovanni shivered with fear instead of cold for the first time.
His eyes darted from side to side, trying to spot a lurking monster.
"Not anymore. I'm here now." Omar pulled a cereal bar from one of his pockets and lightly tapped it against the boy's forehead.
Giovanni stared at the treat and drooled, easily seduced by the cheap bribe. Before he realized it, his cheeks were stuffed like a squirrel's.
"In exchange for the bar… why don't you tell me why you're here?"
The boy froze with the snack still in his mouth.
Adults were all liars!
Between spitting it out to keep his mouth shut and eating everything, there was only one right choice.
Seconds later, Giovanni wiped his dirty mouth with his arm, glaring at Omar.
"Levi… he turned sixteen today and… they told me about Leah… Noah… Ruth!" Each name made his voice shakier.
Omar seemed cold as a statue, yet still offered what comfort he could, gently stroking the boy's hair.
"I got angry! Because… I believed they were okay!" At that point, the child could no longer hold back his tears and broke down.
For a while, the conversation turned into one-sided sobbing. Omar had no words of wisdom or comfort that could change the situation.
The world was simply cruel.
When Giovanni regained some composure, he finished what he had wanted to say before, in a quieter tone.
"Aunt Margaret… said they're happy… in heaven. That someday I'd see them again… but I want them now… with me."
Omar shifted on the bench, adopting a less casual posture.
"It's awful, isn't it? Being left behind. I know the feeling."
The adult's words sounded sincere and painful, even spoken in a tired voice.
"You lost… someone too?"
Lowering the brim of his cap, the man gave a strange smile.
"Yes, I did. It hit me hard back then."
How could he smile while saying something like that? Didn't he feel anger? Didn't he feel like crying?
"And in trying to save that person, I became more distant from them than ever. Funny, isn't it? If I could go back in time, I would have stayed by their side until the very last second."
Omar pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, ready to light one, but stopped midway upon remembering the boy beside him.
"So my only advice is… enjoy it while they're still here. You should be at your brother's birthday party."
He crushed the cigarette between his fingers and tossed it with mechanical precision into the nearest trash bin, returning the pack to his pocket.
Giovanni lowered his head, ashamed of having left the orphanage. What was he doing there?
"Will you come with me? I don't want to walk alone…"
With a restrained laugh, the man raised an eyebrow.
"You think I'd skip my shift to go to a birthday?" The tone sounded indignant, almost offended.
Without further ado, Omar stood up. Giovanni hurried after him, anxious as he saw him heading toward the police station.
Inside, he cast a glance at the woman at the reception desk and at a few of his colleagues.
"Which one of you is up for some cake?" he asked with a mischievous grin.
In seconds, Giovanni owed half the station.
"Come on, we've gotta be quick, kid! Before they eat it all!" Omar grabbed the boy by the hand and started running through the snow, forcing him to keep up despite his short legs.
For the first time that night, Giovanni laughed.
***
A song echoed in the darkness.
What is a flame that never goes out?
How can there be a fire that does not burn?
From where comes that which unravels me?
The darkness contemplated, observing the golden hue.
If pain and solitude were not enough to drown you in my embrace, what feeling must I show you?
Is there something worse than death and suffering?
A viscous, black liquid surrounded a fragile candle like an endless flow.
Are you tired of your burden? Do you wish to be back with those you lost and will still lose?
I am the path to all of them.
Just close your eyes and wait. There will always be another dream, another memory, another feeling.
Because I, too, hate endings.
I prefer… new beginnings.
A voice echoed within the light.
Interesting.
Even so alone, someone reaches you within my grasp.
Who could be so important as to gain access to the gates of your soul?
The voice echoed from the light more intensely.
The gentle, fragile flame reacted.
Its warmth sought the one who called it.
Each contact, however, resulted only in purification.
Disgusting.
What interests you so much out there, enemy light? Do you also seek freedom? Do you also seek expansion?
One day, I will find out.
But until then, I will wait patiently for you.
Light Seeker.
***
His mind, submerged in endless dreams, was awakened by a familiar voice—a cry he did not wish to hear.
Where was he?
Reflection clarified the surroundings.
Or rather, darkened them.
For once again, he drifted through darkness.
He had been there before, only he had forgotten, a memory locked away in the deepest part.
Hidden by someone's hands.
'I… fell asleep.'
The song had captured Giovanni for the second time. Its grip was even more violent, inescapable.
To the point where he could not awaken on his own.
The voice echoed from the light, calling to him, shedding tears for him.
What a terrible feeling.
Even without realizing it, he was still hurting her. How could he be such a terrible friend?
'I'm sorry… Sofia.'
His body tried to take a step forward, but, deprived of feet, it could not move.
His hands tried to part the veil of darkness, but beyond it there was only more and more blackness.
In such situations, he always depended on the guiding light to show the right path.
Unfortunately, when he closed his eyes, nothing awaited him.
Why? Why had she left him alone?
He did not let negativity or remorse take hold of his heart; he would not make that mistake again.
Because this cursed song would certainly exploit it.
It only needed a moment of weakness to poison the heart of those who listened.
If closing his eyes was not the solution, Giovanni did the only thing he could.
He ignored the darkness and looked within himself.
Light.
Something inside him changed when he did that.
Golden warmth emanated from him, carving space through the darkness, silencing its melody. Deprived of a body, only his will remained to move him.
He did not need to follow the light… but the voice.
The fragile flame moved through the abyss, little by little freeing itself from the claws of whatever held it.
Whatever this thing was that dwelled and sang, Giovanni could say with certainty.
He hated it.
The thought of its pain felt just.
But considering everything he had lived through so far, perhaps that was exactly what it wanted. The worst he could become, the most profane and obscure desires.
So all he could offer was…
Kindness.
***
In a verdant field, where every flower had a different shape and color, night had fallen for the first time.
The warm sun lay inert in the sky, as if it had accepted the arrival of a new era that would never depart.
But just as all mornings end, night always fades and gives way to light.
All things need an ending.
Rays burst forth from the star of pure gold, tearing through a veil of shadows.
Kneeling, a girl watched, tears in her eyes, the birth of something that should never have existed.
A promise lost many years ago.
The grass swayed, wrapped in a gentle breeze.
The earth trembled, announcing change, growth.
The light became radiant, immeasurable as it focused into a single point.
On the young woman.
She followed the voice that echoed toward her… and finally found a part of herself she had been unable to see until then.
Giovanni materialized in the space like a golden ghost taking form.
In the sky, he finally noticed a detail that had escaped his attention until now.
The sun was not alone.
A small, pale blue planet orbited it… filled with cracks and wounds.
The only thing that shared the burden of his miracle was that it saved his life without him knowing.
"I… I…"
Tears streamed down his face. Had he really almost allowed everything to end like that?
The ground cracked, gaining texture. Valleys were born, ravines opened, and small tree sprouts emerged among the flowers.
His soul was taking shape.
Something else was awakening.
Sofia and Giovanni faced one another, within the same Soul Sea, truly connected.
She could not help but think that in that moment…
He truly looked like a prince.
[You have received an Aspect Legacy, Promised Reign.]