Marc awoke after what seemed like a long sleep. His head was screaming in pain. He felt as if he could hear voices coming from all sides.
"Murderer.
"Murderer."
"Guilty."
"Scumbag."
"That's enough."
"Criminal"
"I said that's enough."
The voices stopped. Marc opened his eyes and stopped holding his head. He looked around. He wasn't in the Emperor's dream hotel room in Zvenne. He had no idea where he was. He felt something heavy on his legs. Elie was resting on his legs, asleep, half on a chair. Drool was coming slightly from her mouth. Marc gasped and clung to the wall.
"Huh? Marc. You're awake."
"Yes. But what are you doing here?"
"Elie took good care of you while you were asleep. When the Emperor brought you back I thought you were dead, but he told me you'd just had a tiring day. We made a short trip home, stopping at a hotel. When Elie woke up, she immediately said it was her fault you were in that state, so she just stood there looking after you."
Marc's mother had returned and placed a bowl of soup on the bedroom desk.
"Cliché."
"Will you stop complaining every time someone helps you."
Marc looked at Elie, who had fallen back asleep.
"I'm fine, Mom. You can tell Elie it wasn't her fault. Where are the others?"
"In front of the TV in another room, but you're not going."
"Why not?"
"Because this nice lady has stayed to keep you company and monsieur wants to leave to go and see his mates."
"They must be tired too."
"Oh, they're fine. I can guarantee it. But you're going to stay here and keep an eye on Elie."
The anger on his mother's face made him abandon all opposition. He 'sat down on his bed and waited for Elie to wake up again.
"Come on. I'll leave you two alone."
Marc wondered if his mother wasn't the man in black putting on an act.
After ten minutes or so, Elie and Marc went to Jin and Nathanaël's room. Elie was flushed. She had no idea Marc had been watching her when she woke up. She couldn't forget his eyes at that moment when they met.
"Marc. Are you all right?"
"Welcome back master."
"I'm fine. What's all the fuss about? What did I do before I passed out?"
Nathanaël lowered his head. To him and everyone else, there was nothing ordinary about what he'd done.
"Well..."
Nathanaël and Jin explained all the details there was to know about leaving the room. Marc couldn't believe his ears.
"I'm not sure I understand. But finally what I wanted to do worked."
"Marc, you mustn't take this lightly. You were terrifying. Even the beings in white weren't getting close."
"That bad?"
Marc didn't know what to say. He knew that everything he'd done was to protect Elie behind his back. Elie regretted not being awake when Marc was carrying her.
"And do we have any info on the lady?"
"Marc, I told you..."
"I know, but there's nothing I can do about it. All I wanted was to extend my aura and crush them with it. Like you did against Jin."
"Did I do that?"
"Unfortunately, it all went wrong. I'm aware of that, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm still trying to make things right. To make right the wrong I did that day. Which would normally lead me to hell. But every time I try to do something, I'm always the one who's considered a monster."
Silence fell over the room.
"That's why...that's...why....I didn't want to involve you in my affairs...I didn't want you to be associated with a murderer...I didn't want to see you die."
Tears welled up in Elie's eyes. Marc calmed down and looked at the ground. His gaze had lost all hope.
"I'm aware that I look suspicious. Aware of what I've done so if I can't make it up to you...I might as well be dead."
Jin was fed up.
"Master. You often say that you want to die because what you've done is unforgivable. It's true, but there's nothing we can do about it. It wasn't done on purpose and we're moving on. I still have to beat you. We all have to stop the end of the world here if possible. And above all, I don't think the people in this room and your parents will let you die. Because they love you despite what you've done and what you'll do, and they'll continue to love you."
Marc's eyes brightened.
"Since I've been with you, I've wanted to move forward, and I'm moving forward because I'm with you. You've enabled me to do my best fighting and to become even stronger than before. Nothing will make me regret the moments I've spent with you. So if you died, I'd have to go and beat up Nathanaël, and I'm not sure he'd survive."
"Why me?"
Marc looked at his friends. A smile appeared on his face.
"Jin."
"Yes, master."
"Don't go beating up Nathanaël. You're really not normal."
People didn't see Jin as normal, and neither did his friends. All he saw in this dark adventure were the fights he could get into. That was it: Jin Ichimaru.
"As you wanted to know so badly, there's no information about this woman. How did you want us to know?"
"Anything from the other world is beyond our reach."
"You're right. I was just trying to divert attention. I don't think there's any point insisting on these ruins. They've already given us a lot of information and they're not going to give us any more. We'll go in quietly and get some rest."
"We'd better. "
Nathanaël looked at his friend. He didn't seem so lonely anymore. Neither did he.
Chris looked out of the window. The week's vacation hadn't changed much in his daily life. He wondered where Marc was and what he was still up to. Since that day, he'd seen that he'd never stopped looking for them and that they were accompanied by a new guy who was very good at sports.
"Tch. He's not as good-looking as me anyway."
He'd also noticed that the physical abilities of these four had improved. He was systematically losing at soccer and all the other disciplines, and every time they played, Nathanaël, that Jin guy, and Marc made gestures that were clearly not human. Even Elie beat him at sports.
"It's all nonsense. What have they done to their bodies?"
He remembered the time Marc had knocked him out. Never in his life had he thought he'd lose to him. He never had. But then he remembered Marc's movements. That ease of dodging as if he'd always done it. The power of his blow. And yet, he had observed that he was even stronger than that time. Every time he came across him, he felt an immense pressure. As if a powerful aura was bearing down on him.
"This is ridiculous. Now I'm rambling. I'm sure I'm dreaming."
He looked down at his phone.
"Maybe I should talk to Manon about it? See if she's changed too."
He picked up his phone, dialed Manon's number and waited for her to pick up.
"Hi Chris. How are you?"
"I'm doing good. I'm fine."
"Why are you calling me that?"
"I wanted to know how you're doing."
"Really?"
"Does that sound so strange?"
"You're not the type to call me for that."
"I know. I know. I just wanted to know if you noticed anything weird about those jerks, too."
"Are you serious? You're calling me to talk about them. We said we'd forget the whole thing."
"I know, but they just piss me off. How do you like Jin?"
"He's not bad. Wait, you're afraid he'll steal your competition. Don't worry, you're prettier than he is."
"I'm not jealous. It's just that they piss me off with their improved physical abilities."
"That's suspicious, all right. But do you really think it's related to their research?"
"Maybe? I'll go with them and see what it's all about."
"Why? Are you really going to hang out with Marc?"
"Hey, don't insult him. He's cool in person."
"What's the matter with you? You were the first one to come and insult him at school."
"I don't know. I just don't know. Forget what I said. "
"Are you sure you're okay, Chris. You seem out of it lately."
"I'm fine. I didn't call you in to play doctor."
"Okay. Okay . I'm sorry about that."
"I'll leave you to it. Have a nice vacation."
"Since when do you..."
Chris had hung up. She was right: since when had he been worried about Marc? He didn't even want to think about it, but ever since he'd thought about it that day, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
"Damn it. "
Marc returned home and sat down on the sofa. His father returned with the suitcases.
"Well, well, well. What a vacation. Anyway, the Emperor is terrifying."
"I didn't know you'd planned all this."
"I didn't plan anything after Orio. Your son is the guilty one."
His parents both looked in his direction.
"How did you do it?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets."
"You're not a magician."
"Who knows. I still managed to get the Emperor of Zvenne to move in person. Isn't that a great trick?"
"It's true that it's a miracle."
"Don't encourage him."
"That's right. If you want to see el Marco, el fenomeno, this is the place."
"Yes, that's right."
"Pack your things."
Marc got up to get his suitcases. That little trip to Zvenne had helped, but it still didn't make him understand why Lavoisi would have done this. He still didn't know Zodric's plans or what had happened to the lady. He didn't know why Zodric thought he knew him and who that woman in the otherworldly room was. Nor did he know how the other world worked. It had only brought him more questions.
"And I still don't know what's going to happen. What did the man in black plan? Did the engravings represent the past or the future? Can I really stop them?"
Marc opened his hand and looked at his palm. He felt as if he lacked power. Lacked strength. Lacking confidence. He knew it wasn't enough to defeat him. The abyss he'd felt that day. The immense pressure that seemed to come from death. The absolute emptiness he'd felt around him. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Except the infinite power of this man or monster.
"Huh?"
Marc noticed he was sweating.
"Did it affect me that much?"
He went to his room to do some research, but stopped what he was doing to go for a walk.
"I'm going for a walk. See you later."
"Walk?"
His parents didn't understand. He no longer saw the Marc he'd known. On the way out, he ran into Elie, who had decided to walk too. They walked together.
"How are you? Did you get home all right?"
"Yes, and you?"
"Short answer. I see."
"What else did you want me to say. We had another brush with death. That's all. But I'm still home safe."
"All right, princess."
"Stop calling me that."
"Just kidding. Just kidding. You know your strokes hurt now."
"I know. But I also know you won't die from it."
"You could avoid hurting me."
"You've earned this one."
They walked for a good hour, talking about everything that didn't concern this other world and their journey for a long time. To forget what lay ahead.