Part 1
Viewpoint: Yuna
Yesterday, Léo came to see me.
I was pleased, really.
But I was tense. I was expecting him to bombard me with questions about Mrs Anyathel, about what we're both up to. He didn't. He simply asked if my research was progressing.
I can't tell them the whole truth yet. Not yet.
Not about what we've found out about Ra.
But tomorrow, I plan to tell them about the flow of aether, about certain properties Anyathel explained to me. And maybe also details about our powers, things I've begun to understand.
This week has changed me.
Mrs. Anyathel opened my eyes to the three phases that element carriers go through during their link with Onizuki.
She told me she'd been through them all.
She claims to have achieved total mastery: Gold Mode.
If that's true... then she has a lot more to teach me.
Today, I have to see her again. But this time, she told me she was going to teach me the most crucial thing. The thing that would launch her plan.
I arrived in front of this old library. A little stressed, but less so than last time.
Mrs Anyathel had earned my trust... but I was still on my guard.
This week, we've gotten to know each other.
She's not as weird as I thought. Just... peculiar.
I might even come to like her. But we're not there yet.
Let's just say we have a student-teacher bond.
I went in and greeted the lady at reception, who replied with a smile.
Then I headed for the room where I work with Mrs Anyathel.
She was watching me come down the stairs. And spoke before I could say a word:
- So, Mrs. Anyathel, what are we doing today...
- As I said, I'm going to talk to you about what's going to kick-start my plan.
I've already given you some advice on the third phase.
- Yes, you told me to always keep in mind that aether is a river: you can draw from it... or drown in it.
- Very good. Now listen to me.
You don't choose to reach the third phase, Gold Mode.
You're chosen.
You don't have to worry if Onizuki never shows up again.
- So... why you? Why did he choose you?
She stared at me, and answered calmly:
- He didn't choose me.
- But... you told me you'd been through all the phases. So, how did...?
She smiled. A smile that meant: you always ask the right questions, Yuna.
- It's precisely to explain this that I've asked you here today.
I won't have another chance to tell you soon.
In two days' time, we'll be leaving for Konfrant with the others. She continued, after a silence.
- There's another way to reach these phases.
And now that I think about it, I never showed you my bracelet. Here it is.
She held out her arm.
The bracelet was strange. Bigger.
In fact, it was as if there were three of them, fused into one.
Same organic texture, same moving symbols...
But the colors... a mix of matte black, azure blue and off-white.
Among the symbols, three I knew by heart stood out:
a stylized dagger.
an inverted Ouas, symbol of the god of Lightning, Seth,
and a Kaemur, a circle broken by a closed spiral, linked to Shou, god of Air.
- You guessed it right. I have three bracelets.
- But how? Why did Onizuki give you three?
- He didn't give them to me. I took them from other wearers.
I spotted them thanks to my clairvoyant powers.
I also wanted Leo's... but if I'd taken it, I wouldn't have been able to withstand the aether flow. I would have died.
- You wanted to take Leo's... What happened to the other carriers?
She replied with the same icy calm:
- Removing a bracelet doesn't kill you. But it does put you into a coma. Some recover. Others don't.
The first, wearing Air, wouldn't give me his bracelet.
So I killed him.
My heart began to beat faster. Fear sprang up. I wanted to flee.
But she went on, staring into my eyes.
- With her bracelet, I reached Gold Mode.
The second... a young girl.
She gave it to me voluntarily. But I'd already reached the limit of my power.
When I absorbed her bracelet, I acquired the power of Lightning...
It gushed out during the absorption, but I couldn't control it at the time.
She died, accidentally.
I was shaking. My instinct was to flee. But I was paralyzed.
- That was thirty years ago, in Cairo.
That's why I fled here.
Then I wanted to take Leo's, but one of my visions showed me that I would die.
I'm getting old. I needed a successor.
I thought of Naël, but only a wearer can inherit a bracelet.
So I chose you.
She could see I was panicking. I was trembling, sweat on my brow.
My voice broke:
- What do you... want me to do?
She answered without hesitation:
- Tomorrow, take Leo's bracelet.
You won't have to kill him. He'll probably give it to you willingly.
And don't worry, he'll be fine and you won't die.
Heh heh.
My tears were coming. But I managed to contain myself. I resumed in a calm voice
- Can I... tell them about what you told me
this week?
She paused. Thinking.
I insisted:
- It'll give them confidence. He'll give it to me without you having to intervene.
- I think you're right. It'll save me from killing another person.
light laugh
I tried to hide my fear, smiled falsely, and replied:
- I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye, then.
She didn't reply. She just watched me go, a smirk on her face.
Part 2
As I left the library, a single thought crossed my mind: finding Léo and Naël.
It was Sunday. They had to be at our spot in the woods.
I ran to the cabin: empty.
Maybe they preferred to train at the boxing gym.
I went over. I hit them like crazy.
No one was there.
I went over to their place. I was told they weren't there.
Maybe they went to my place...
On the way, I passed Annaël, my little sister, two years younger than me. She was wearing an elegant dress, as if for a date.
Out of breath, panicked, I asked her:
- Have you seen Léo or Naël today?
- Aren't you going to ask me where I'm going?
- I don't have time for your nonsense. Where are they?!
- Oh, calm down. They didn't come.
I fell to my knees.
Where'd they go? Where did...?
- Are you all right?" she asked, worried.
No. I wasn't.
Mrs Anyathel... she's up to something.
I didn't answer. I hastily handed her my notebooks and ran back to the library.
- Mommy said not to be late!" she shouted behind my back, as I disappeared into the distance.
Part 3
Leo's point of view
Yesterday, after talking to Yuna, I ran into Mrs. Anyathel.
She was carrying a pile of books in her arms. It was the first time I'd seen her outside the library.
She struck up a conversation, saying she was going to give Yuna some things she'd forgotten.
I took the opportunity to find out more about what they were doing together:
- You're helping Yuna understand aether better, right?
She gave me a sidelong glance, a polite smile on her lips.
- We're just chatting. You know, she's brilliant, very receptive. She's got great potential.
- I'm sure she does. I just wanted to make sure she's okay. The last few days, she's been a bit distant.
She let out a slight laugh, then looked down at the books she was holding.
- Carriers like you two are often unsettled at first. Aether is vast, unfathomable. She needs answers, and I'm trying to help her find them.
She paused for a moment, then looked up at me.
- You're very worried about her, aren't you?
I shrugged.
- That's normal, isn't it? She's my friend. We always said we'd have each other's backs.
She nodded slowly, her gaze lingering on me as if she were sizing me up.
Then she said, in a voice that was almost too soft:
- You're loyal. It's a beautiful quality... but sometimes dangerous. Leo, you should learn to think for yourself.
His words made me uncomfortable. I didn't know what to say.
I stood there for a moment, my heart a little heavy.
This morning, I woke up early, ready for a day like any other.
It was time for aether training.
Nael was already waiting for me at the gym, bag in hand, already dressed.
But Yuna didn't come.
We waited for her.
I sent her a message. No reply.
Nael got annoyed, but I could see he was worried too.
- Calm down, Naël. She often leaves her phone at home, you know that.
- Yeah, but now... she hasn't been here for three days.
- She's probably learning something from the librarian.
- She's been there all week. I wonder what the hell they're doing, seriously.
- Mrs Anyathel has experience. I ran into her yesterday. We had a little chat. To hear her tell it, we're not the first porters she's met.
- Ah, so she's got powers too... This village is going crazy. Everyone's getting them, what's the big deal?
- Haha, you're right. She suggested I drop by the library. Yuna will probably be there. Are you coming?
- Of course I'm coming.
After training, we headed for the library.
Inside, the lady at reception wasn't there. In fact, we didn't even know her name - she was new.
I took the lead, heading for the room where we'd last met.
No sooner had I stepped into the room than I heard a noise behind me.
Everything happened too fast.
A blue flash streaked across the room.
A dull crackling spread through the air, like a mixture of electrical crackling and dry clattering. The smell of ozone stung my nostrils.
I turned around.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
Time seemed to slow down, as if distorted.
Everything was a blur.
I could see Nael on the ground, a trickle of blood running from his temple. He was shouting at me to run, but his voice was muffled, drowned out by the buzzing.
And then I saw her.
Mrs Anyathel, a broad smile plastered on her face, scratching her head as if she'd just done something stupid.
- So it was my destiny to miss this shot... hehe.
She'd aimed at Nael, but obviously missed by a hair's breadth. He'd still taken some damage.
I could feel the rage welling up inside me, burning, uncontrollable.
How could she have tricked us like that?
- Where's Yuna?! I screamed.
- Hehe, even now you're thinking of her...
Leo, I told you to learn to think of yourself, come on...
All around her, an electric field crackled with a deafening din.
The air vibrated under the tension, lightning flashed around her like a living barrier.
The electricity that enveloped her protected her.
It was impossible to get close without being shocked.
My precognition didn't give me superhuman strength. It amplified my reflexes, but I remained human.
While I was thinking, she launched a sphere of concentrated electricity.
I barely dodged, my body guided by my foresight.
So she can project electricity at a precise point...
A high-velocity shot. Deadly if I miss.
I watched her. She was already charging a new, even larger sphere. Electricity was gathering at one point, vibrating, threatening.
If I stood still, it would become so massive that even my foresight would be useless in avoiding it.
So I ran. Without thinking.
She threw the sphere. I had seen it coming.
- My clairvoyance allows me to see the whole tree, but not the details of the wood... unlike your foresight. That's interesting.
His voice echoed in my head, but I stopped listening. My rage mounted as I drew closer. I was approaching the electric field. Instantly, the pain twisted my nerves and tore a scream from me. My body was burning. But I kept going.
Something wells up inside me. My aether. I could feel it escaping, roaring through my muscles. Black and gold electricity formed around me, like armor, a field similar to Anyathel's. I didn't understand what it was, but it felt... natural. I didn't understand what it was, but it felt... natural.
She sent out a flurry of tiny spheres. Each one whistled through the air like a blade. I dodged them all, one by one, driven by my instincts and foresight.
When I reached its height, I struck.
A punch charged with electric aether.
The impact threw us both to one side.
Then I heard the door open.
I looked up.
Yuna.
Breathless, wide-eyed, transfixed by the horror of the scene.
Anyathel took her in his arms. A point of electricity formed in the hollow of her palm, just below Yuna's throat.
She burst out laughing.
- Give me your bracelet... or I'll kill her!
How could she say such a cruel thing?
All I wanted to do was kill her.
I concentrated all the aether I had left, in black and golden electricity, behind my back, out of her sight. The aether compressed, pulsed and distorted the air around me. Everything seemed instinctive, fluid.
I raced towards her.
A few more meters.
I slammed my fist into the void with all my might.
An arrow of electricity shot out.
The sound ripped through the room like a thunderclap.
It pierced Anyathel.
But a splinter accompanied it. A shock also hit Yuna.
I ran, my heart ready to explode, and caught her before she hit the ground. She fainted in my arms, her body sliding into a pool of blood that was already spreading around us.
I held her against me, trembling. Anyathel's body lay nearby. Not dead. Not yet...
She murmured something. I didn't understand. But she was still smiling.
Her bracelet was slowly disintegrating into ashes that evaporated into thin air.
How could she still smile...?
Her blood was flowing. A lot of it. Too much.
And suddenly, it went... deep.
Not an image. A reality.
The blood grew. A dense, thick sea of red.
I tried to stand up, to hold Yuna in my arms.
But I was slipping. I was sinking.
I was drowning.
Her blood was swallowing me.
My legs no longer touched the ground. There was no floor.
Just this warm, sticky mass, this liquid too thick to flee, too dense to swim.
I wasn't going down: I was sinking. As if this blood had decided to keep me.
My arms flailed in the void. I raised them towards the surface, which I could no longer see.
Yuna had disappeared. Torn from my arms. Swallowed too.
I screamed. But there was no sound.
My mouth opened and blood rushed in.
It strangled me. It forced me to swallow.
A hot torrent, scraping against my teeth, up my nose, flooding my throat and invading my lungs.
I was suffocating.
Coughing up blood. Spit out blood. Breathing blood.
And that was all.
The metallic taste turned my stomach.
My body convulsed in all directions.
My torso was heaving in desperate spasms, drawing moans that no one would hear.
I flapped my arms. I struggled like a rat dying in a puddle.
But nothing responded.
My muscles went numb. My breath became torture.
Every second of consciousness was another burn.
My lungs screamed, filling with every uncontrolled reflex.
My skull exploded from within. My eardrums buzzed.
I could see nothing.
Only red.
Red everywhere. Red behind my eyelids. Red in my head. Red!
Then, in moments, black.
But not the peaceful black of unconsciousness.
A grinding, oppressive black, crushing my insides.
I didn't know if I was still alive.
Or already dead.
Or both.
And then... silence.
Bonus - Yuna's notes: The three phases of the bond with Onizuki
1. Awakening
This is the moment when everything begins.
Onizuki manifests: in the wearer's mind or dreams
The wearer comes into contact with the aether for the first time, through his or her bracelet.
This first activation often takes place in a critical or emotionally unstable situation. The bracelet reacts. The power manifests itself suddenly and uncontrollably.
In this phase, the link is fragile. The aether only shudders. Abilities are clumsy, unstable.
This is when the wearer can accept or reject the bond.
Those who refuse... die.
2. Expansion
When the link is accepted, when the aether is deeply anchored...
Body, mind and bracelet begin to become one.
Then Onizuki returns.
This is the most unstable phase, but also the richest.
Abilities develop rapidly. Sometimes too fast. This is achieved by dreaming of another wearer's past, or by losing oneself in the aether.
And in exchange, you gain a deeper understanding of your power.
Side effects are frequent: migraines, dizziness, loss of control, perceptual disturbances.
3. Gold Mode
This is not a permanent phase. It's a rare and dangerous transitory state.
In this state, Onizuki pours an exceptional quantity of aether into the wearer's body.
A flow that approaches that of a demigod.
For a brief moment, you feel a total fusion with your element.
Aether seems limitless. Gestures become perfect. The world seems to slow down.
But the backlash is violent.
If the body isn't ready, it can break under the pressure.
Anyathel says she could see much further ahead with this power. But this is in exchange for her life expectancy: she has less than a month to live.