I closed the book.
I didn't move right away. I left my hand resting on the cover for a few seconds, as if that were enough to justify opening another one.
I turned my head to the right.
Sofía had her face pressed against the table. She puffed out one cheek, then the other, wrinkled her nose, closed one eye, then the other, and started all over again. She didn't look bored of being with me.
She looked bored of sitting there while I kept reading and reading without stopping.
I looked at her in silence.
She looked back at me without lifting her cheek from the wood, wearing that exaggerated expression of suffering.
I lowered my gaze again.
I still had part of what Mr. Luis had given me left to read. I was about to open it when—
"I'm done!"
I looked up.
Sofía had barely straightened up, her eyes fixed on me as if she had just announced something extremely important.
I blinked.
"Done with what?"
She looked offended.
"Waiting for you."
I lowered my gaze back to the book.
In truth, I could keep going a little longer. Not much. Just a while. Long enough to finish that part and maybe—
"Jhosep," Sofía said, now more seriously.
I didn't answer.
I barely opened the cover.
Then I heard the chair scrape against the floor.
I looked up just as she stood.
"No," she said, pointing at me as if she had caught me doing something wrong. "No. Not like that."
I frowned.
"Just a little more."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Sofía…"
She walked around the table and planted herself beside me.
I had already placed my hand on the book to open it completely when she grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.
"Let's go."
"Sofía!"
"Don't act like that."
"Let go."
"No."
She pulled me once, hard. Not hard enough to knock me over, but enough to make it clear she was serious.
I grabbed the edge of the table with one hand.
"I'm not done yet."
"You've been reading forever!"
"Not that long."
Sofía gave me a look that made it very clear that was a lie.
She pulled again.
I kept holding on.
"Just this part."
"No!"
"Five minutes."
"No!"
"Three."
"Jhosep!"
She pulled harder, and I almost slipped off the chair.
"I'm not done yet," I muttered, though without much strength left.
Sofía looked at me as if I had just said the most unfair thing in the world.
"No!" she protested, pulling on my shirt again. "Not anymore! You've been reading for a long time!"
I didn't answer.
Because it was true.
Sofía huffed, clearly bored, and pulled me again.
"Besides, you said."
I looked at her.
"What did I say?"
"That if I came with you to the library, then you'd come with me wherever I wanted," she said, pointing at me with one hand while still gripping my shirt with the other. "That's what you said. I came. I stayed here. I barely bothered you. Now you have to come with me."
I blinked.
Well.
Yes.
That was true.
I had wanted to go to the library.
She had agreed to come with me.
And in exchange, I had to follow her afterward.
I looked at the book.
Then at her hand still gripping my shirt.
Then at her face.
She was still angry. But more than angry, she looked genuinely bored. As if she wasn't going to accept a single excuse more.
"Just a little longer," I tried.
"No."
"Five minutes."
"No."
"Two."
"Jhosep!"
She pulled harder, and I nearly slipped off the chair.
"I already said no," she said, puffing out one cheek. "If you want to read more, read later. Right now, you're coming with me."
I looked at her with annoyance.
She held my gaze without giving in even a little.
And that was the problem: Sofía could be noisy, dramatic, and chaotic…
but once she got something into her head, moving her was almost impossible.
I let out a breath through my nose.
Reluctantly, I closed the book all the way.
"Fine."
Sofía narrowed her eyes.
"Really fine, or fake fine?"
"Really fine."
Then she let go of my shirt… only to grab me by the wrist.
"Let's go."
"I can walk by myself."
"Then walk, but quickly."
I got down from the chair properly, carefully placed the book back on the table, and gave it one last look. It still bothered me to leave when I wanted to stay, even if only a little longer.
Sofía tugged me again.
"Jhosep!"
"I'm coming."
"Slow."
"I have short legs."
She turned her head slightly and smiled, this time with a little bit of mockery.
"Excuses."
"But it's true."
She didn't let go until we crossed the library door.
Once we were outside, she loosened her grip a little, but not completely. She kept pulling me through the halls of the Unit with the confidence of someone who seemed to know every corner… although, after a few minutes, I started to doubt that.
We turned left.
Then right.
Then went down some stairs I was pretty sure we hadn't used before.
We passed through a long corridor with tall windows, a small courtyard with stone benches, and an area where there were barely any people. The farther we went, the less it resembled the center of the Unit and the more it felt like a place people normally didn't wander around in.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked.
"You'll see," Sofía answered, without letting go.
"That doesn't answer anything."
"Yes, it does."
"No."
"Yes."
I looked at her suspiciously.
She kept walking as if she knew exactly what she was doing, but she started looking around more than usual. Not much. Just enough for me to notice.
That made me frown.
"Sofía," I said. "Do you actually know where we're going?"
"Of course."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying."
"You're lost."
"I'm not lost!"
She said it too quickly.
Which, basically, was admitting it.
We kept going.
The Unit really was big. Bigger than it seemed when you only stayed in the common areas. There were open spaces, stone paths, gardens more carefully maintained than others, inner courtyards, low buildings connected by walkways, and the farther we moved from the main compound, the quieter everything became.
Until we reached a wider path, lined with trees and thicker vegetation on both sides.
And that was when I realized where we were heading.
Or at least, near where.
In the distance, beyond the path, I could make out the direction of the lake.
I fell silent.
I also noticed something else.
There were too many people.
Guards.
Instructors.
More adults than I had seen gathered in that area since I arrived.
They were spread out along the path; some standing still, others speaking among themselves, several looking toward the lake area with serious expressions.
Sofía saw them too.
And for the first time since she had dragged me out of the library, her pace slowed.
She didn't stop abruptly, but almost.
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.
Her expression changed slightly. Very little. Just enough for me to notice she was no longer so sure about continuing forward.
One of the guards saw us first.
Then an instructor did.
And then an older man, dressed in the Unit's formal clothing, took a step toward us.
"What are you two doing so far from the main compound?" he asked, his voice firm, though not aggressive.
Sofía straightened so quickly it was almost funny.
"We got lost," she answered at once.
I looked at her.
She kept staring ahead.
"You got lost?" the man repeated, raising one eyebrow slightly.
"Yes," Sofía said, this time a little less convincingly. "We were walking and… and…"
"And you got lost," he finished for her.
Sofía nodded quickly.
I said nothing.
Because, technically, she wasn't completely lying.
Just… mostly.
The man sighed and looked for a moment toward the other adults before focusing on us again.
"All right. I'll escort you back."
Sofía nodded again. Too quickly.
"Yes, please."
We began walking back, now with the instructor beside us. Sofía was a little quieter than before. She didn't look exactly scared… but she did look uncomfortable.
After a few seconds, she looked up at him.
"Why are there so many people around here?" she asked, trying to sound casual and failing a little.
The instructor didn't answer right away.
First, he looked ahead.
Then he said:
"In the past few days, unusual movements have been recorded in this area. Or, at least, they are suspected."
Sofía pressed her lips together slightly.
"What kind of thing?"
"That someone entered the lake area without authorization."
When I heard that, I instinctively turned my head toward Sofía.
She avoided looking at me.
Too quickly.
I looked ahead again, but now with more attention.
Well.
That was interesting.
"Is it bad if someone goes in there?" I asked.
The instructor lowered his gaze toward me, and when he noticed my age, his expression changed a little. It softened.
"Yes, little one," he answered patiently. "It's bad because you can't just enter that place whenever you want."
"Why?"
"Because this place—or rather, the lake—isn't an ordinary place. It's a place blessed by mana," he said, speaking more simply, as if trying to explain it to a child, which, technically, I was. "There are places that can be beautiful, peaceful, or special… but they are still delicate. If people who shouldn't be there get too close, they can disturb the balance of the place or put themselves in danger without realizing it."
I blinked.
He continued speaking, still in that calm tone.
"It's like when someone tells you not to touch something important, even if it looks pretty. It isn't always because it's bad. Sometimes it's because you don't know what might happen if you do."
I nodded slowly.
That made sense.
Beside me, Sofía kept walking in silence.
She no longer looked bored.
Or impatient.
Now she only seemed to want to get back to the room as quickly as possible.
And that, in a way, told me far more than anything she was saying out loud.
After looking at her, my suspicions began to feel fairly accurate.
So I decided to ask again.
"And why is it bad to go in there?" I insisted, looking up at the instructor.
The instructor looked at me for a second, and when he noticed I was still paying attention, he smiled faintly. It wasn't a big smile, but it was kinder than before, as if he had decided to explain it in a simpler way.
"All right, little one," he said in a lighter tone. "It's bad to enter because that lake isn't just pretty water to look at. It's a blessed place. And that means its water can grant benefits to those who drink it."
I blinked.
"Benefits?"
"Yes," he answered. "Benefits. It doesn't work the same way for everyone, and it isn't something anyone should drink just because they're curious. That is precisely why it is protected. People don't enter just because they feel like it."
I immediately turned my head toward Sofía.
She avoided my gaze so quickly it was almost ridiculous.
She said nothing.
She didn't even try to explain herself.
She just kept walking, staring ahead, as if the ground had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world.
And that was enough.
Her guilt was almost palpable.
I slowly looked ahead again.
After walking for almost six minutes, we finally reached the room.
Before leaving, the instructor looked at both of us and gave us advice that sounded far more like a scolding than anything else.
"It's fine to be curious and want to learn about the Unit," he said calmly, "but you must not wander so far from the center of the compound. Especially not without telling anyone. Understood?"
Sofía nodded immediately.
So did I.
The instructor held our gaze for one more second, as if making sure we had truly understood this time, and then left.
As soon as the door closed, Sofía walked straight to her bed and dropped onto it face up, as if all the energy she had used to drag me halfway across the Unit had suddenly run out.
She didn't look at me.
She didn't say anything.
She just stayed there, arms at her sides, staring at the ceiling.
I sat on my bed, across from her, and watched her for a few seconds.
She still didn't look at me.
So I spoke to the air.
"You knew it was forbidden to go in there, didn't you?"
Sofía took a moment to react.
Then she nodded weakly, still staring at the ceiling.
I blinked.
Well.
That already answered quite a bit.
I stayed silent for a second before asking something else.
"How many times have you been there?"
Sofía lifted one hand and opened her fingers.
Five.
I stared at her in silence.
Five times.
Five.
"Five times?" I repeated, more to myself than to her.
Sofía nodded again, now a little more slowly.
"Did you go alone?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"With who?"
This time, she turned her face slightly toward me.
"The first four… with Julián, my little brother," she murmured.
I frowned.
I almost interrupted her before she could continue.
"And you always drank the water, yes or no?"
Sofía pressed her lips together.
Then she nodded.
I closed my eyes for a second.
Ah.
Well.
That explained why she felt so guilty.
I looked at her again.
She had already gone back to staring at the ceiling, as if it were suddenly far more interesting than talking to me.
Sofía kept staring at the ceiling for a few seconds.
Then she spoke first, more quietly.
"We can't tell anyone."
I looked at her.
"No one?"
She shook her head.
"If someone finds out, they'll tell the director."
I frowned.
"Director?"
Sofía turned her face slightly toward me.
"Your dad's sister."
I went still.
My dad's sister.
I lowered my gaze a little.
"Lauren…" I murmured.
Sofía nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
We stayed quiet.
I didn't say anything else.
I didn't scold her.
I didn't ask why she did it.
There wasn't much point in doing that anyway.
I wasn't exactly in a position to judge someone for wanting to go somewhere forbidden just because they were curious.
The silence stayed between us for a few more seconds.
Then I let out a breath through my nose and murmured:
"You and your brother are crazy."
That drew a grimace from her that came dangerously close to becoming a smile.
"Yes," she admitted. "Very."
I shook my head.
Five times.
Four with Julián.
And one with me.
I stayed silent for a few seconds.
But this time, I wasn't thinking so much about how many times Sofía and Julián had gone to the lake.
I was thinking about something else.
About what the instructor had said.
Benefits.
The lake's water granted benefits to those who drank it.
That was what wouldn't leave me alone.
I turned my head toward Sofía.
"Hey."
She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, still half sprawled on the bed.
"What?"
"What are those benefits the instructor mentioned?"
Sofía blinked.
"The lake ones?"
I nodded.
She thought for a moment.
"Marta once told me the lake can give benefits to the body."
I sat up a little.
"What kind of benefits?"
Sofía opened her mouth, but then closed it.
She shrugged.
"I don't know."
I looked at her.
"You don't know?"
"No," she answered. "I only know that. That it gives benefits. But I don't know what kind."
"Ah…"
I stared ahead.
That didn't help much.
In truth, it left me with even more questions.
About two hours passed.
Or something like that.
I wasn't sure.
Time inside the room felt strange when there was nothing to do. Sofía had lain down, sat up, lain down again, kicked at the air for a while, and then stared at her own hands as if boredom were killing her.
I wasn't doing much better.
I wasn't sleepy.
I didn't want to talk too much.
And I didn't have a book nearby to hide inside.
Then Sofía raised one hand.
At first, I thought she was only playing with her fingers, but the air in front of her changed slightly.
A small sphere of water appeared above her palm.
It wasn't big.
Barely the size of a small ball.
Sofía made it float from side to side, moving her fingers carefully. The sphere slowly spun, trembled a little, and then changed shape.
First, it was round.
Then square.
Then triangular.
It became round again.
And then square again.
I couldn't help looking at it.
Even though I already knew mana existed, every time I saw something like that, it still felt fascinating.
The time Mom showed me that bird of fire.
And now Sofía, moving a sphere of water as if it were something normal.
I sat up better on the bed.
"Sofía."
"Mmm…"
She was still focused on the sphere.
"How do you do that?"
Sofía lost her concentration at once.
The sphere deformed.
For a second, it looked as if it were trying to stay in the air, but then it lost all shape and fell straight onto her face.
"Pff—!"
Sofía shot upright, coughing and shaking her head.
The water had soaked her forehead, nose, and part of her hair.
"Cough, cough! Jhosep!" she protested, wiping her face with one hand. "Don't do that!"
I looked at her, surprised.
"What did I do?"
"You spoke all of a sudden!" she said, still coughing a little. "You startled me, and I lost concentration."
I blinked.
Then I lowered my gaze a little.
"Sorry."
Sofía looked at me with a mix of annoyance and embarrassment while wiping the water from her face with her sleeve.
"I almost drowned in my own magic."
I looked at her for a few seconds.
I couldn't help it.
"That would be very sad."
"Don't laugh!"
"I'm not laughing."
"Your face is."
I covered my mouth a little with my hand.
Sofía narrowed her eyes, still wet.
"You're mean."
"You dumped water on yourself."
"It was your fault."
"A little."
"All of it."
I didn't answer.
But for the first time in a while, the room didn't feel so heavy.
I stayed quiet for another second.
Then I returned to the question that had been circling in my mind since earlier.
"And the lake water?" I asked. "What did it taste like to you?"
Sofía blinked.
"That again?"
I nodded.
She wrinkled her nose a little.
"I already told you. Cold."
I looked at her.
"That doesn't count."
Sofía let out a breath through her nose.
"To me, it tasted like metal."
I waited a little longer.
"And…?"
Sofía lifted a hand, as if trying to figure out how to say it without repeating herself too much.
"Well, that. You know. It tastes different to everyone."
She paused briefly and then added:
"To Julián, for example, it tasted like dirt. Or mud. Something like that."
I looked at her.
"And not to me."
"No," Sofía said. "It tasted different to you."
I nodded slowly.
Yes.
Sweet.
I could still remember it.
It wasn't a heavy or sickly sweetness. It was more… clean. Soft. As if the water had a taste that didn't seem like water… but wasn't bad either.
Sofía glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
"After that, you feel weird too. I told you."
"Weird how?"
She shrugged a little.
"I don't know. More awake. Lighter. Like your tiredness goes away."
My expression didn't change.
Sofía noticed and wrinkled her nose.
"I don't know how to explain it better!"
I thought about it.
More awake.
Lighter.
Less tired.
It didn't sound like something as direct as "it makes you strong" or "it heals everything."
It sounded more… vague.
Harder to grasp.
Which, somehow, relieved me a little.
"And that happened every time?" I asked.
Sofía nodded.
"Yes. Well… almost every time."
"Almost?"
"One time not so much," she admitted. "But I think it was because I only drank a little."
I blinked slowly.
So yes.
It hadn't just been childish curiosity or wanting to sneak into a place she shouldn't.
Sofía had gone back several times because she knew something happened when she drank that water.
And Julián too.
I leaned back a little more against the bed, without taking my eyes off her.
"And Julián can use mana too?"
Sofía made an even-more-obvious face.
"Yes."
"Better than you?"
She opened her mouth, indignant.
"No!"
I kept looking at her.
She puffed out one cheek.
"Well… I don't know. But not better than me."
I nodded once, just to give her pride some peace.
Sofía looked at me for a few more seconds and then narrowed her eyes.
"Why do you ask so many questions?"
I looked down at my hands for a moment.
I didn't answer right away.
Because the answer was simple, but I didn't like saying it.
Because the more we talked about the lake, the water, and mana, the clearer something I already knew too well became.
Everyone could do something with it.
See it.
Use it.
Feel it.
I couldn't.
Or at least, not like everyone else.
I looked back at her.
"Because I want to know."
Sofía stayed silent for a moment.
Then she let herself fall backward again, less tense than before.
"Well, now you know a little more."
I didn't answer.
Yes.
I knew a little more.
But not enough.
And honestly, I wasn't sure I liked everything I was beginning to understand.
The room stayed silent for a few seconds.
One of those strange silences that aren't comfortable, but aren't bad either.
Just… heavy.
After a while, Sofía turned her head slightly toward me.
"So… you're not going to talk about this, right?"
I looked at her.
"I don't want to die."
That drew a small laugh from her.
Short.
Almost tired.
"Yeah," she murmured. "Me neither."
And for the first time since we came back from the lake, her voice sounded more relieved than guilty.
The silence settled between us again after that, but it no longer felt the same as before.
It wasn't that tight, uncomfortable silence of someone who knows they did something wrong and doesn't know how to fix it.
It was more like a tired one.
As if the two of us had decided, without saying it, to leave that subject alone for a while.
Sofía was the first to break it.
"Are you hungry?"
I blinked.
The question pulled me out of everything I had been thinking.
"I don't know."
"That's not a yes or a no."
I looked at her.
She was still lying down, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"Well… a little," I admitted.
Sofía made a short sound through her nose, almost like a tiny victory.
"I am."
I didn't answer.
I heard her move, sit up, and then drop her feet to the floor.
"I'm going to ask for something before it gets later."
I glanced at her.
"Ask who?"
"Marta, or whoever passes by," she said, as if it were obvious. "There's always someone doing something here."
I nodded faintly.
Sofía was already heading toward the door when she stopped and turned back toward me.
"And don't say anything weird."
I frowned.
"What would 'something weird' be?"
"I don't know," she answered, shrugging. "Sometimes you say weird things."
I stared at her in silence for a few seconds.
"You're weird."
"Yes, but I'm allowed."
I didn't know how to respond to that.
Sofía opened the door and left.
I was alone in the room again.
This time, it didn't feel the same as before.
The light came in through the window with a softer, dimmer tone. Outside, the forest was still there, quiet, as if nothing inside me had changed.
But something had changed.
Not much.
Not in a huge way.
Just enough.
Now I knew the lake wasn't just a beautiful and forbidden place.
It was something more.
Something that gave.
Something that left marks.
Even if they couldn't be seen.
I lowered my gaze to my hands.
I opened them a little.
Closed them.
Nothing.
Not a spark.
Not a sensation.
Not a tingle.
Nothing.
I swallowed.
Then I opened them again, out of some stupid habit, as if doing it one more time would change anything.
It didn't.
I slowly let out a breath and lowered my hands.
I didn't know exactly what I was looking for.
Or what I expected to find.
But the feeling remained.
That silent irritation. That tiny discomfort that didn't hurt enough to break me… but did hurt enough to keep me from feeling at ease.
I heard footsteps outside.
Then the door opened again.
Sofía entered first, and behind her came Marta with a tray in her hands.
Marta placed the food on the small table in the center without saying much. She only looked at both of us once, as if checking that we hadn't set the room on fire or something.
"Eat here. And don't make a mess," she said.
Sofía nodded immediately.
"Yes, Ms. Marta."
I nodded too.
Marta said nothing else. She turned around and left, closing the door behind her.
Sofía approached the table and lifted one of the plate covers slightly.
"Good," she murmured. "Not bad."
I approached slowly and lifted the cover of mine.
Almojábanas.
And agua de panela.
For a second, I stared at the food in silence.
At first glance, it seemed too simple, almost like nothing special. But with the cold of the Unit, the warm smell of the dough and the sweet steam of the agua de panela felt… good.
Light.
Warm.
Easy to eat.
Much better than continuing to think.
We sat down.
And for a while, we didn't talk about lakes, mana, or anything strange.
We just ate.
That helped more than I wanted to admit.
When we finished, Sofía returned to her bed and I returned to mine. Neither of us said much. She stayed sitting for a while, lightly swinging her feet, while I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
But it wasn't peaceful either.
It was one of those silences where your head starts filling up on its own.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Then opened them.
The information I had read, what the instructor had said, the lake, the benefits, the sweet water, Sofía's sphere, her hands moving mana as if it were the most normal thing in the world…
Everything mixed inside me.
I tried to organize my thoughts.
I tried to calm down.
I tried to accept what was happening.
But it was hard.
It was shit.
Everything was shit.
I thought that, at least this time, things would be different.
And in a way, they were.
My parents were alive. I had a sister. I had a bigger family, a stranger one, with things that in my past life would have only existed in books or games.
But, in the end, it was still the same.
I was still me.
Someone who, if he stood out, always did so for the worst reason.
In my other life, I was the weird one. The delicate one. The one who didn't belong.
In this one, I was the boy without mana.
The void.
The error.
What terrible luck I must have, to be marked as abnormal even in a new life.
I tightened my fingers slightly against the sheet.
My parents…
Thinking about them hurt in a strange way.
I didn't know if I was angry.
I didn't know if I was sad.
I didn't know if it was both.
They had let me go.
They had sent me here.
To the Unit.
With Lauren.
Was it so bad to have me near them?
Was it so dangerous for me to stay at home?
Was it so wrong for me to be their son?
I swallowed.
I didn't want to think that.
I really didn't.
But the thought stayed.
Stuck.
Heavy.
All living beings possessed mana.
All of them.
Children.
Adults.
Animals.
Plants.
Even places could be blessed by it.
But not me.
I lacked it.
Why?
Why only me?
Why couldn't it have been someone else?
For once…
just once…
I wanted to be normal.
Someone ordinary.
Someone who wasn't born carrying a misfortune from the very beginning.
My head began to feel heavy.
The thoughts were still there, but they became slower.
Blurrier.
The ceiling started to lose its shape.
My eyelids grew heavy.
I heard Sofía move on her bed, but the sound reached me as if from far away.
Then I heard nothing.
And I fell asleep.
…
I didn't remember when the last time I had dreamed was.
Or maybe I did dream.
Maybe I just didn't remember.
But this time…
I knew I was dreaming.
The first thing I felt was cold.
I looked down.
My feet were wet.
The water covered me up to my ankles.
It was dark.
Too dark.
As if it reflected nothing.
I looked up.
I wasn't in my room.
I wasn't in the Unit either.
I was standing on a surface of black water stretching as far as I could see. There was no sky. No walls. No trees. Only an immense darkness above and below, as if the entire world had become a bottomless night.
I took a step back.
And then I noticed something else.
My body.
My hands weren't small.
Neither were my legs.
I looked at myself in confusion.
I wasn't three.
Or four.
My body was taller. Longer. Heavier.
Like before.
Like when I was sixteen.
I felt a cold blow in my chest.
"Where am I…?" I murmured.
The water moved.
At first, it was only a soft ripple around my feet.
Then another.
And another.
Small waves began to form around me.
I stepped back.
The waves moved too.
I took another step.
The water pulled at me.
I frowned and tried to move away, but every time I took a step, the waves seemed to drag me back to the same point.
It didn't matter which direction I walked.
It didn't matter how much I tried to get away.
The water always brought me back.
As if that place didn't want to let me go.
I tried to run.
It didn't work.
The waves grew stronger.
They struck my legs, shoved me, made me lose my balance. I fell to my knees on the dark surface, but I didn't sink. Not yet.
I breathed hard.
I waited.
Nothing happened.
The waves lowered a little.
I stayed still.
One minute.
Ten.
I didn't know how much time passed.
In dreams, time shouldn't feel like that.
But there, it felt too real.
Too slow.
Too heavy.
"Wake up…" I murmured.
Nothing.
I clenched my teeth.
"Wake up."
Nothing.
Frustration rose in my throat.
I struck the water with my fist.
Once.
Again.
"Wake up!"
Then the water answered.
The waves rose all at once.
Strong.
Violent.
They dragged me backward, then to one side, then the other. I tried to stand, but the liquid ground moved beneath me as if it were a living beast.
A wave covered my face.
I coughed.
Another struck my chest.
And then something grabbed me from below.
They weren't hands.
Or maybe they were.
Invisible fingers.
Pressure.
Force.
Something pushed me toward the bottom.
"No!"
I struggled.
I moved my arms, kicked, tried to grab onto something that didn't exist.
But the dark water opened beneath me.
And swallowed me.
The cold wrapped around me completely.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't see.
I could only feel the weight of that water pushing me farther and farther down.
Deeper.
Slower.
My body began to feel heavy.
Drowsy.
As if the dream within the dream wanted to shut me off.
My arms stopped moving with strength.
My mind grew blurry.
And then…
a hand appeared in front of me.
I didn't understand where it came from.
I only saw it.
Extended.
Waiting for me.
By instinct, I raised my right hand.
I took it.
The force that pulled me was immediate.
The water broke over my head.
I burst back to the surface with a gasp of air and began coughing, spitting out black water that tasted of cold and ash.
I was still holding that hand.
I lifted my gaze.
And I saw it.
It wasn't a person.
Or not completely.
It was a black figure, tall, covered in dark contours that moved like living smoke. It had no clear face. Only shadows. Unstable edges. A silhouette that seemed to exist and dissolve at the same time.
But its eyes…
Its eyes were there.
Violet.
No.
More like purple.
Dark and light at once, as if they were shining from somewhere far too deep.
The figure released my hand.
I took a step back, but the water barely allowed me to move.
Then that same hand reached toward me.
It touched my chest.
Or so I thought.
I didn't feel the contact.
Not at first.
The figure tilted its head slightly.
And spoke.
Its voice didn't sound in the air.
It sounded inside me.
"You are blood of my blood."
I went still.
"You are his blood," it continued. "You are not his firstborn… but you could succeed him, if he refuses."
I didn't understand.
I couldn't understand.
The words entered my mind like stones thrown into water, sinking before I could see the bottom.
"What…?" I tried to say.
The figure did not answer my question.
It only spoke again.
"It seems they have some affection for you."
I froze.
They.
My parents?
My family?
The phrase struck me harder than it should have.
And because I was so focused on those words, I didn't notice.
I didn't notice the hole in my chest.
I didn't notice the hand piercing through me.
Not until the figure began to withdraw it.
Slowly.
Then the pain came.
It wasn't like a normal wound.
It was as if something inside me were being torn out from a place where nothing should exist.
I screamed.
I screamed with all my strength.
I threw myself backward by reflex, falling onto the water, kicking, trying to get away from that figure.
The hole in my chest burned.
I cried.
I couldn't help it.
The figure advanced toward me.
I backed away.
Once.
Again.
More and more.
Until something stopped me.
My back struck a solid surface.
I turned slightly and dug my fingers into it.
It wasn't stone.
It wasn't earth.
It was sand.
No.
It was too gray to be sand.
My fingers became stained with dark dust.
Ashes.
The moment I thought that word, the figure appeared in front of me.
It didn't walk.
It didn't move.
It was simply there.
I tried to get up, but my body didn't respond.
I was lying on that gray sand, with my chest open, breathing as if I had just run until I broke.
The figure leaned over me.
Its purple eyes fixed on mine again.
"You are blood of my blood," it repeated. "Do not forget it."
I tried to speak.
I couldn't.
"If he cannot… or if he will not… then you must succeed him."
The world darkened.
The ashes beneath my body crumbled.
The water rose again.
And I woke up.
Not abruptly.
I didn't scream.
I simply opened my eyes and slowly sat up in bed, my breathing broken and my body soaked in sweat.
For a few seconds, I didn't know where I was.
Then I recognized the ceiling.
The room.
The window.
The Unit.
I immediately lowered my gaze and brought a hand to my chest.
There was no hole.
No blood.
Nothing.
Only my skin.
My heart beating far too fast beneath it.
I swallowed.
My hand was still pressed against my chest.
What was that?
No.
What was it?
The figure's voice echoed in my head again, even though it was no longer there.
You are blood of my blood.
I tightened my fingers around my shirt.
Blood of my blood…
Whose?
And what did it mean to succeed him?
I stayed sitting for a few more seconds, sweating, breathing hard, my eyes fixed on the darkness of the room.
Nothing moved.
There was no black water.
No ashes.
No figure with purple eyes in front of me.
It was only me.
Only my bed.
Only the cold of the Unit clinging to my skin.
It was a dream.
A nightmare.
That had to be it.
A nightmare too clear, too long, too real… but a nightmare all the same.
I repeated that to myself several times.
Once.
Again.
Again.
But my body didn't fully believe it.
My chest still hurt where that hand had pierced me.
Or where I had dreamed it had.
I took a deep breath, though the air came out trembling.
After a while, exhaustion began to weigh more than fear.
My arms loosened.
My fingers stopped gripping the fabric of my shirt.
I lay back down slowly, almost without realizing it, still staring at the ceiling.
I didn't want to sleep.
Not yet.
Not after that.
But my eyelids began to fall on their own.
I tried to keep them open.
I couldn't.
The image of the black water was still there, hidden behind my eyes.
So was the voice.
You are blood of my blood.
I swallowed one last time.
And before I could arrange another thought, sleep dragged me under again.