In this situation, even Danaël found it hard to stay positive. He was used to spelling out every problem he encountered in his head, one by one, which allowed him to find solutions, just as he had done in the cart.
"Come on, Danaël, think! Think for God's sake! Fantastic monsters, how are we supposed to beat fantastic monsters? We've got two knives, and...a fantastic revolver maybe?".
He tapped his belt and felt the metal object press against his skin. "Okay, that's something. We're going to need something to eat.
Luckily, the carcass of the cart was swept into the dimension, and there should be some food salvageable, at least for a week. I hope.
If we're to have any chance of survival, we're going to have to be at one hundred percent of our physical capacity".
Danaël turned his head to Dod and looked him up and down. "Dod seems to be doing well, and physically, he's the stronger of the two of us.
The problem is his morale...Well, I can motivate him, so he should be fine.
As for me, I'm aching all over and feel numb, but the adrenaline will make my movements more fluid, which probably won't be enough to ease the pain, but if I grit my teeth, it should do the trick.
As for the princess, well, the princess is our biggest problem, these wounds are far too serious, she'll have trouble walking for a long time...the real problem is that of the three of us, she knows the most about fantasia, and given her demonstration in the cart, I've no doubt she can fight, at least better than Dod and myself that's for sure. How do we do it?"
"Princess, you wouldn't happen to know how long it'll be before the platform comes down?" Asked Danaël suddenly.
"Um, given that we arrived as soon as the rift opened, we should have a few hours ahead of us, I'd say two or three at the most."
It was more than Danaël had hoped for, and he intended to make the most of every minute they had at their disposal.
Dod, Evangeline, and Danaël decided to sit down, then the princess looked at them, successively, before saying:
"Don't you two feel like you're forgetting something?"
Dod and Danaël exchanged a quick, dubious glance before shrugging their shoulders in the direction of the princess.
"We're on the verge of certain death, and you still haven't introduced yourselves to me. I'm outraged!" Said Evangeline indignantly.
"I'm Danaël", he replied with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Princess."
Dod pretended not to have heard Princess Evangeline's request but cracked up at Danaël's insistent glances.
"My name is Dod, Dod Allentown, and I must admit that so far it has not been nice to meet you, PRINCESS."
Evangeline raised her eyebrows before tucking her hair behind her back in a theatrical gesture.
"Shared pleasure, Dod Allentown."
Danaël let out a thin laugh, which he immediately swallowed.
"It's all right, there's no need for you two to bicker", he told them in a conciliatory tone. "Now, continued Danaël, Princess, I'd like you to teach us how to use the fantasia."
Evangeline would have laughed, but she was far too tired and dejected to do so, so only a meagre smile formed from her lips.
"You want me to teach you how to use fantasia in just a few hours?"
"We've got nothing else to do, have we?"
"I imagine so", she replied wearily. "I'll have to make this as simple as possible for you, so I won't repeat myself, and if you have any questions, you raise your hand, got it?"
Dod and Danaël nodded, Evangeline reminding them of the schoolteacher they'd never had.
"First of all", she began, holding out one hand to Dod and the other to Danaël. "I'm going to have to put you through the 'initiation'. Now you can't knead fantasia yet because all your fantastic pathways are blocked. Your symbiotic cells are asleep and need a fantastic shock to wake them up."
Dod and Danaël nodded in agreement, even if they weren't quite sure what Evangeline meant by "fantastic shock". The princess concentrated, closing her eyes as if she were meditating.
Suddenly, she snapped her fingers, then almost in the same second, she placed her index and middle fingers together, taking on the shape of a pistol, and finally, she pierced young Danaël's chest, then it was Dod's turn.
Princess Evangeline's hand had pierced his body, yet Danaël wasn't bleeding. He dared to look down at his chest and confirmed that Evangeline's hand had indeed pierced it.
Danaël felt his blood run cold, and an intense pain appeared on his neck, an extreme itch the likes of which he had never felt before.
He felt as if he were being devoured from within and without; the pain twisted and undulated along his spine like a snake, and Danaël couldn't help letting out a groan of pain. Young Danaël was beginning to break out in a cold sweat and grimace.
Dod, on the other hand, had remained rather calm, at least at first.... He had reacted differently from his friend. When Princess Evangeline's hand pierced him, he felt his heart knot. The sensation didn't stop; in fact, it became almost unbearable.
A throbbing vein appeared on his left temple. Dod could hardly breathe and grabbed Princess Evangeline's wrist in supplication. His breathing became increasingly jerky, and at times, he let out faint cries that sounded so juvenile they were like a chick at birth.
"Don't worry, it's normal", continued Evangeline calmly, seemingly ignoring Dod's cries of distress and Danaël's groans. "Each person's perception of fantasia is unique, and the pain or uneasiness you may be feeling right now is a manifestation of the opening of your fantastical pathways."
"How do we make it stop?" Danaël spat, burning with pain.
"You need to find your impulse. As I've just told you, each person's perception of fantasia is unique. Fantastic paths are not constantly open; fantasia users can activate and deactivate them at will. They do this through "impulse". The impulse is a movement, a gesture, or a word that will enable you to achieve this feat. To give you an example, my impulse is to snap my fingers, because I can feel the fantasia more precisely at my fingertips."
Danaël understood the instructions, and they were quite clear. Yet his mind prevented him from thinking properly, and he continued to writhe in pain.
Dod instinctively found his impulse; the latter was on the verge of fainting, and, in a desperate gesture, he struck his chest twice.
His choking stopped abruptly, and the young boy took a deep breath of air... a little too much as he choked again, tears welling up in his eyes, coughing and clearing his throat loudly.
Princess Evangeline withdrew her hand, which remained immaculate, even after crossing the bloody swamp that is the human body. Nor did Dod retain any trace of the initiation.
Moments later, it was Danaël's turn to complete his impulse. The fantasia tore at his neck. Danaël scratched the back of his neck with his right hand, and the pain faded as quickly as it had arrived.
Evangeline withdrew her hand, a satisfied look on her face, while her two apprentices lay on either side of her, out of breath and exhausted by the ordeal.
"Well, well", said Evangeline, clapping her hands jovially. "I'll let you catch your breath, and we'll move on."
Dod was struggling to do just that actually, gasping for air. Danaël was still clutching the back of his neck, red from the scratches he'd inflicted on himself.
"Now I want you to reactivate your fantasia by using your impulse", resumed Evangeline.
The two boys complied, Dod pounding his fist twice on his chest and Danaël simply pinching the back of his neck to avoid hurting himself too much.
Evangeline stood up to examine them. Danaël tried to help her, but she swept her hand away, signaling that she didn't need any help.
Standing feverishly in front of them, the girl brought her hand up to her face before undulating her thumb and forefinger so that they formed a circle, which she slid down to her right eye.
Evangeline breathed part of her fantasia into this very spot, and Danaël watched in amazement the miracle unfolding before his eyes.
At times, Danaël could see faint, fantastical crimson flames escaping from Evangeline's right eye and hand. These flames evaporated as soon as they left the girl's body.
She examined them with a puzzled expression, coming within centimeters of Dod's face and then Danaël's.
Danaël looked at himself and saw that his body was covered in these undulating flames, coming and going, crackling like a bonfire.
This time he felt no pain; on the contrary, he was comforted by a gentle, soothing warmth. He glanced down at his hands and was forced to note that the color of his fantasia was not the same as Evangeline's.
The flames emanating from his body were green with black tints.
He turned his head to his friend Dod, and likewise, his fantastic flames were different: in the half-light, Dod shone brightly with his pure-white flames dotted with purple touches.
"Interesting", said the princess curiously. "Your colors are truly original. I've never seen them anywhere else."
"Is that a good or bad thing?" Dod asked in a puzzled tone.
"I don't know, fantastic mist is normally supposed to be homogeneous, but you...you each have two distinct colors within your mist."
"Let's hope it's just a detail", concludes Danaël. "Please continue, princess."