The school days passed quickly. Marc, Jin, Elie and Nathanaël now formed a solid group. Chris and his group of friends just stared at them. But Chris seemed elsewhere. Manon simply avoided them. It was as if the curse had come from Marc. She was afraid of him.
Marc, on the other hand, was living his life quietly, forgetting about the man in black, forgetting about Zodric or Goagi, forgetting about all the problems that had accumulated so far. He didn't laugh, however, and rarely smiled. But the slightest of his smiles always delighted Elie, who began to smile too. Which lit up the whole room.
"You're looking better Marc."
"You think so?"
One of Marc's favorite teachers was Monsieur Gorac. His chemistry teacher. Attending his class was a blessing for him because they were always doing an enormous amount of experimenting. Color explosions, temperature variations, crystallizations... Marc loved the unexpected results every time. Waiting for the result.
"You're gradually regaining your color. Make sure you're ready for what's coming next, I've got some heavy stuff in store for you."
"I'll be ready, sir. Don't worry."
"Good."
Marc watched his teacher leave. Elie, sitting next to him, hadn't missed a crumb of the conversation.
"You like this teacher."
"He's nice and I like chemistry."
"That goes without saying."
They ended the course with an experiment he had called Robius's Star. For the experiment produced a blue vapor with the flicker of gold in the form of a star. Marc had enjoyed the day.
But the vacations were fast approaching. It was time for them to visit the ruins of Orio church. The problem was telling their parents they were going to...
"The Zvenne Empire?"
"Yes."
"That for a vacation."
"We'd like to go there for a week. "
"Why there? You know how strict they are. The only good thing is that they're tough these Zvennires. "
"I don't mind taking you. It'll give me a vacation too."
"Darling. You know how expensive it is."
"But I know you want a vacation. It'll do you good."
"But..."
"I'll buy you three restaurants..."
"Kids, pack your bags, we're leaving tomorrow."
Her mother was like that. She liked restaurants. Marc knew his father had managed. In fact, he winked at him as he left.
The Zvenne Empire was a powerful empire known for its strict rules. Although highly developed, there was no evidence that its inhabitants were happy. It was said that they were reduced to mere robots following the law. Several revolutions had already taken place to stop this powerful authoritarian system. But they all failed. The people didn't rise, but they didn't really suffer. They were all victims of the most powerful man in the world: Emperor Turcan.
Turcan was known as the most powerful and politically influential man in the world. His fame stemmed mainly from the fact that his surname was Turcan and that he was much stronger than the average man. It was rumored that he had been the victim of an assassination attempt at knifepoint, but had fended off his assailants himself.
"If what they say about this man and his empire is true, we're going to have a hard time finding the ruins."
"Fortunately, they're still visible, but they're off-limits? We're going to have to make a bit of a ruckus."
Marc wasn't at all confident. His goal was to find the truth, not fight the world. Becoming the enemy of the Zvenne Empire meant becoming the enemy of the world. He had to find a way in undetected. But to do that, they already had to arrive.
"One more check."
"I told you he was strict. We should have spent our vacation in Igrir, it was quieter. Why do you necessarily want to go to Orio?"
"For the history."
"History? What history? Orio is a ruined town. The only history you might find there is the legend of the massacre. You won't see anything else."
"At least they have beautiful scenery."
"That much is clear. That's the only reason I'm letting you go out there."
Marc understood that his mother was letting them go to Orio because she herself could enjoy it.
"Orio is a beautiful town. The places of the so-called massacre are strongly present, but if you don't stay there, you soon forget."
At that moment, it was certain. There had to be a remnant of a dark aura about the place. Dark for more than ten thousand years.
They approached the city after more than five hours' driving. The Zvenne Empire was immense. The great cities built to touch the sky left Elie speechless. The architecture of the buildings seemed to come from another world. On the streets, there weren't many people. All those walking showed no special emotion.
"It's sad to see, such a beautiful city for such gloomy inhabitants."
"It's because of the law they're like that. Damn Turcan."
Marc saw these people too. He also saw cities. For him, everything was in order. Far too much in order.
"We've arrived."
The town of Orio was indeed beautiful, with an ancient style. The Turcan Emperor didn't want to touch it, because for him, the old should sometimes remain the old. All the ruins were therefore preserved without maintenance.
"Magnificent."
Nathanaël saw on his left a carriage driven by two magnificent white horses.
"It's downright rubbish."
There were houses that seemed to date back to the old days. The inhabitants were not dressed in the same way as those outside the city. It was easy to distinguish who the tourists were. The sun was beaming down on the houses, making them even more beautiful. But to enter the city, they had to pass a final check.
"Hello sir, can we see your papers? And can you tell us why you have come to the city of Orio?"
The world language was Zvennese. Marc's father spoke the language very well.
"Even here, you ask for the papers."
"That's the procedure."
All giving his papers, he replied.
"We're here for a stay."
"You picked the wrong time to come to Orio. Security must have been stepped up here."
"Why?"
"We can't tell you sir, but the Emperor was very clear. Please be careful."
The car passed between the two guards. The blue of their clothes emitted a small light that reflected in Marc's eyes.
"They're stylish."
"Are you sure you want to stay here?"
The four children looked at each other, then all answered in unison.
"Yes."
Marc's eyes reflected the city that flashed before his eyes. Despite its bright colors of gold and white, he could see it very clearly. The aura that hung over the city.
"Head for the church."
Arriving at the hotel, the little family and friends were all shocked by the place. Everything was made of marble. If they'd walked in without knowing what it was, they'd have thought it was a palace. The entrance hall consisted of a reception desk at the far end of the room. To its left and right were two golden staircases winding up to the second floor, forming an arc. The floor was as gleaming as the walls. Chandeliers hung from the ceilings. Antique paintings hung on the walls. White armchairs sat on both sides of the room.
"So much for a hotel."
Opposite the reception desk, the lady behind it, who didn't even seem to notice their arrival, smiled at them immediately.
"Hello and welcome to Orio."
Marc's father dropped his sunglasses.
"It was the cheapest in town. There were no pictures."
"How much did you spend on all this, darling?"
"Nothing. Almost nothing."
As everyone stood in awe of the magnificent sight. The receptionist repeated.
"Hello and welcome to Orio. May I ask what name you booked Orio-bas under?"
Orio-bas was the name of the company he'd rented from.
"Ah yes. Excuse me. Carl Zeymond."
"I see. You've reserved three rooms. Here are the keys. They're rooms 208, 211 and 212. Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you."
After receiving the keys, they all went straight to their rooms. And as agreed, their surprise was justified. The room, too, was all white and gold. It looked like something out of a movie. The velvet of the beds, the view of the city, the giant screens. Everything was perfect. Marc stared at the city for a long time. Especially the ruins he could see from his room. The sun illuminated them as well as in the photos.
"We're on our way."
But as expected, the place was closed.
"What do you mean, closed?"
"Off-limits to everyone."
"Why?"
"Why would we tell you brats. It's forbidden, that's all."
"Marc, come here for two minutes."
Nathanaël took him aside.
"You know very well that if we get into trouble in this town, it won't do."
"I know, but we can't just give up. You see it well. The aura of that ruin is powerful."
"I know. But maybe the reason they closed the ruins was because something bad was happening there. You can see that even though there's a huge amount of aura, it's super dark and creepy."
Indeed, the ruin's aura was sickening. Marc found it hard to stay put, and the guards changed every ten minutes. Some were even fainting on the ground.
"The heightened security, that's why."
Marc hesitated. There was nothing he could do against the Zvenne Empire.
"But we can test something."
Marc looked at Nathanaël thoughtfully. What idea could this intellectual genius possibly have.
"I'll try something, but the results probably won't come right away."
"How soon?"
"I don't know."
"I think I know what you mean. But if it doesn't work, we'll force our way in."
"You'll do it yourself. I don't want any trouble."
Nathanaël moved towards the guards whom Elie and Jin were still harassing.
"Are you deaf or something? You can't go in there. "
"But since I'm telling you I'm stronger than you and so is he. We're safe."
"I don't care."
"I'm going to hit him."
"Stop it, Jin. That's the Zvenne Empire there."
"Excuse me. But you tell your Emperor that the aura of this ruin is restless and something is going on. If he knows what to do, let him do it quickly."
The soldier's head shot up as these were the most insolent words he'd ever heard against his Emperor. He prepared to draw his sword.
"In view of Article 3 of the Imperial Code, which stipulates..."
"Flee."
Nathanaël was the first to flee. Elie and Jin looked at him as if he were a coward who couldn't back up his words. But when they saw that Marc had disappeared too, they ran as fast as they could.
"Hey, come back. How is this possible?"
The guard couldn't believe it. They hadn't just run away, they'd almost disappeared. He'd seen them start and then disappear. As if their speed wasn't of this world and he'd never seen them.
"But what happens in this town in the end?"