Sitting back in his room, one on the bed and the other on the chair, Marc told Elie everything. It was hard for her to hear. When they had finished, they remained in silence for ten minutes, until Elie recovered her senses.
“A ruined castle? A library? Endless staircases? You've seen it all.”
“Yes, I have.”
“And Lavoisi is an author who has written in both worlds?”
“Yes, I found his works in the other world. Here.”
Marc had managed to keep a copy of Lavoisi's books from his world and the one he'd found in the remains of the château. Passing the books to Elie, he noticed the dark circles around her eyes and her unkempt hair. He'd never felt so bad for anyone, and he didn't think anyone could get into such a state for him.
“I should treat her better.”
Elie took the books and consulted them. She really liked the way he wrote. A smile spread across her face. Marc contemplated that smile for a long time. For him, that little lift of the lip lifted his spirits.
“I like this writer. He writes a bit like you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Poetic but deep. You write like that a lot.”
“I do?”
“You have other clues?”
“In the throne room I was in, there was a name written on the table. Zodric.”
“Zodric.”
“Especially the owners of the castle.”
Someone knocked on the door.
“I hope I'm not disturbing you.”
“Nath.”
Nathanaël entered the room. His smile at the sight of Marc lit up the whole room. He hugged Marc back.
“I knew you weren't dead.”
The two looked at each other. Nathanaël had become brighter. Marc had become darker.
“You're even brighter than before.”
“I can't help it. I don't know how to stop it.”
“Sit down. We were just debriefing.”
“Zodric, who is he?”
“We don't know.”
“We'll have to find out and find this Lavoisi.”
“Was he even still alive?”
“We'll see.”
Marc picked up his Pc, which was on his desk. He typed Lavoisi's name into his search bar.
“Lavoisi is a novelist born in...”
“What is it, Marc? Go on.”
“He was born in -10756 and died in -10738. This author is known not to have been confirmed dead but disappeared after 5 years of searching. ”
“What. That's so old.”
“I knew that in Romane, he loved the ancient but not to this extent.”
“Could such old writings have been preserved? How is that possible?”
“I don't know. I'll read on. Lavoisi lived in Romane, in the town of Sire. He was unmarried and had no attachments. His life seemed pretty normal, except for the day when he went berserk and massacred the people at Orio church. From that day on, he disappeared without a trace. The only thing found at his home was his books. He was only eighteen, yet his bookshelves contained hundreds of books. The most mysterious thing was that he left a message on his desk. It read: woe to those who do not look at the stars.”
“Wow.”
“That's chilling.”
“It's not over yet. Today, Lavoisi's story is in doubt. Some think he was just a kid who wanted to write what he thought.”
Silence fell over the room. Marc began to think again. To him, Lavoisi didn't seem like the kind of person who would slaughter people. But since he didn't know the author at all, he couldn't say for sure.
“We'll keep looking on our own. For now, get some rest. You've got a hard day.”
Nathanaël stood up. Marc looked at him, thinking that he was undoubtedly the wisest of all. Elie didn't want to leave Marc for fear of losing him, but she had to leave the room and let him sleep.
“See you tomorrow, Marc.”
“See you guys tomorrow.”
As soon as they closed the door, Marc collapsed on his bed. He hadn't stopped running and thinking. His whole body was overheated. He closed his eyes and decided not to go to school the next day. It was the best sleep he'd had in a long time.
Chris awoke with a start. His strange dreams tormented him enormously at night. It wasn't the first time he'd woken up like this. He couldn't take it anymore.
“Damn it.”
He couldn't help thinking it was his vision. That field of black feathers haunted him to this day. He could see himself lying in the field, the feeling of death rising in his arms, unable to move, unable to scream, the feathers slowly allowing themselves to cover his carcass before he heard that word roar in the distance.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Aregis
He could no longer forget it. He couldn't pass it by. He didn't want to die... He thought back to Marc, telling himself that he couldn't really accuse him of anything.
“Maybe I went a bit too far. There was no reason for me to get so worked up. But the fact that he's the only person left alive in the whole damn cathedral is super suspicious.”
He tossed the can in his hand in anger.
“I never really liked the guy. I was popular enough not to talk to him. But still, I felt like he was stealing my popularity when he's not even that good-looking. Okay, so he's not ugly. But still. I'm tired of it.”
He took another can from his fridge and sat back in his chair.
“He's still a nice guy, and when I'm with him, it gets on my nerves, but he's cool.”
Chris's eyes closed heavily. He couldn't stay awake anymore.
“I think if we'd known each other from the beginning, we could have been friends.”
Chris fell asleep in his armchair.
Marc awoke with a start. Something was missing.
“By the way, where's Jin?”
He sprinted to the next room to see if his student was still there. His bed was empty.
“Damn it.”
He sprinted toward his parents' room.
“Mom, Dad, where's Jin?”
His mother awoke slowly as if the news of his disappearance didn't shock her in the least.
“He went looking for you the day you went to the library. I tried to hold him back but he said : Thank you, master's mother, but I must do this alone, don't look for me, I must fulfill my duty to the master.”
Marc looked desperately at his mother.
“It's true.”
“You warned him at least.”
“No, I forgot.”
Marc looked desperately at his mother for a good minute before running to fetch his phone.
“Where the hell is he now?”
Marc tried to call him, without success. He ran to the door, grabbed his sneakers and set off in search of her. But just as he wanted to get out, he saw Jin in front of the door, kneeling with his point down.
“Welcome back from your training master. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I've been looking for you.”
His clothes were battered, his shoes were soiled, and he had wound marks on his sleeves, which he'd lost, by the way.
“So I've been training too while you've been away.”
Marc really didn't understand Jin. A hundred questions popped into his head. In the end, he took a deep breath to pretend it was normal.
“It's all right. You've worked hard, you deserve a rest. Go to your room and rest.”
“Yes, master.”
“Stop calling me that.”
For Jin, his master's approval was the best thing that could have happened to him.
The next day, Marc and Jin stayed in the house to rest. They'd earned it. They met in the kitchen.
“So that's what you did in the other world.”
Jin didn't understand much of what Marc was saying, but had clearly witnessed Goagi's powers. He now knew that the world Marc was going to was real. Which made him even more determined to be his pupil for life.
“You're definitely very strong, Master.”
“Stop calling me that.”
Marc took a bowl of cereal and sat down on a chair.
“By the way, you've been practicing, haven't you? You shouldn't show me the fruits of that training. ”
Jin's eyes lit up.
“Come outside, we'll see what you're made of.”
“Yes, master.”
They went out into the forest nearby. An open space was at their mercy.
“Five minutes.”
“Okay.”
Five minutes wasn't much in the real world. But on their scale, it was more than enough for Jin. He took the first step. The air split and he disappeared as he moved. To a human being, this was impossible to see. But for Marc it was different. He caught Jin's foot in mid-air. This sent him reeling back ten meters.
“Impressive.”
But then Jin disappeared again, this time close to the ground, trying to tackle Marc. The latter barely jumped to avoid the tackle.
“Oh.”
Still in the air, Marc took a nice high kick. His arms served as a shield. A pretty smile spread across his face. But Jin wasn't finished. He disappeared a third time. This time, Marc couldn't follow him. By the time he realized what was happening, Jin was already behind him.
“An lunge punch.”
Jin's eyes darkened. Marc had managed to follow him with his eyes. He grabbed Jin's fist.
“That was hot.”
Jin stepped back a good 20 yards.
“It's been five seconds.”
The fight was on. Jin's rain of attacks wouldn't stop. He tried everything. Marc had to admit it, Jin was much stronger than he was. His every move incited human perfection. But Marc was no longer human.
“Ten seconds left. It's my turn to attack now.”
It was brief and to the point. Marc disappeared from Jin's field of vision. No matter how he turned his head, he was gone. He could feel the air move, but he couldn't see his master. He was too fast for him.
“Touché.”
The hand put on Jin's heart. This ended their fight.
“You've become even stronger, master.”
“It's not much, I've been in the other world most of the time. You're just rubbing shoulders with me.”
“By the way, when you spoke of the other world, I thought you were talking about a superior human state. But since the appearance of this famous Goagi, I don't know what to think anymore.”
Silence reigned for a while. Marc didn't want to involve an innocent in his affair. No one around him was safe anymore.
“You know if you want to stop following me, you can. I'm not holding you back.”
“Stop following you? No, on the contrary, there's a stage even more powerful than anything I've ever imagined. I can't stop there. You're the ideal person to achieve my goal.”
Marc couldn't believe it. He couldn't understand how anyone could willingly put themselves in such danger, knowing all that could happen. Even so, he smiled.
“You. You're really something.”
Jin looked at his master.
“All right, then. Follow me to the end of the worlds if you like.”
His master shone in the sunlight. His smile was like one of its rays. Nothing looked more beautiful than this student gazing in admiration at his master.
On the way home, Marc began to research Lavoisi further.
“They don't say much that's new. The phrase 'woe to those who don't look at the stars' comes up a lot, but it's always the same context. “He massacred the people of the church of Orio.” I'll try to find that church.”
There was nothing normal about Orio's church. Its symbols resembled those found in the other world. Its followers were said to be madmen who advocated nothing other than the idea of the descent of a celestial being.
“The great Zodric.”
His name was there. The name that was inscribed on the table in the ruined castle. The name Marc had seen near the throne.
“A church that worships an otherworldly being. Chilling.”
Marc read on carefully. The church had indeed been massacred and had also fallen into ruin. Corpses had been found on the site in all sorts of states. Burnt, lacerated, drowned, limbs missing... Hearts had been found in the center of the church, and the castle had suffered a major explosion.
“But worst of all, 4 other churches that also worshipped Zodric were destroyed and massacred on the same day. This day was called “Zodric's descent.”
But nobody believed in the legend. Marc believed it wholeheartedly. He couldn't help believing that all these actions had been programmed by this Zodric. The owner of the otherworldly ruins. An address was given with representative images
“Great. It's not going to help me if it's more than ten thousand years old. I hope I can see the ruins or some semblance of remains.”
Jin entered the room.
“Did you find anything interesting?”
“Addresses and pictures. A name I know and significant events.”
“That doesn't seem to delight you.”
“Let's just say, I don't think I'm going to find any friends there. It's in Zvenne's empire. We'll wait until the vacations to go there. Good thing it's in a week.”
“I'm already getting ready for the trip.”
Marc looked at the painting of the place. Everything was dark and horrifying. Just thinking about it now puzzled him.
“Am I going to die this time?”
Marc looked desperately at the images of Zodirc's descent. Corpses littered the ground. From the image alone, he could see the sinister aura of the place. His eyes darkened.
“No, I'll survive.”
The next day, Marc had to take the bus back to school. Elie was so delighted that she regained her usual air just by seeing him leave the house. A radiant smile lit up the street. Jin and Marc couldn't even look at her.
As soon as he got on the bus, Marc noticed he was being watched. That was to be expected. A boy who disappeared from one day to the next and then came back as if nothing had happened, didn't really fit in with what one might call “everyday life.” Marc was well aware of this. Even so, he took the bus as if it were normal.
“Did you miss it?”
Marc contemplated the scenery passing before his eyes.
“Yes.”