Once the two guards were far enough away that they couldn't hear them, Helena emerged from her hiding place and watched as Apolo played along. The boy had stopped asking questions and instead realized that the best thing he could do now was go with the flow of the dream, and then ponder its meaning when he had gathered all possible clues.

Noticing Apolo's silence, Helena quickly commented:

—Come on, we're pretty close to my secret hideout!

—Let's go...—Apolo replied gruffly, allowing Helena to take his hand and lead him in a particular direction. It was truly easy to get lost in a forest like this, where all the trees were practically identical, and it was impossible to tell them apart. Nevertheless, the girl knew the way quite well, and after a few minutes, she managed to guide Apolo to a hill.

The hill looked quite familiar to Apolo, and in fact, he knew it well enough to recognize it as the very same hill that led to the cliff in the middle of the forest. Despite this, Apolo remained silent and contemplated the matter in his mind while allowing Helena to guide him. The girl didn't seem to want to give Apolo many explanations, and instead, Helena seemed more focused on holding the boy's hand to guide him to the end of the hill before the guards found them.

Apolo continued his march up the hill while observing the trees around him, wondering if the guards would find them again, why were there two masks instead of just one? And even more importantly, why was he having this dream at this moment, and what was its meaning? But no matter how much Apolo wondered, there were no answers, only more questions in his mind. The boy continued to entertain ideas in his mind until he heard the sound of water crashing against the rocks. He realized it was the same sound he always heard when approaching the edge of the cliff. The characteristic noise brought Apolo out of his trance, and he impatiently asked:

—Are we close? Is there something in your hideout you want to show me? I honestly don't remember why we "escaped" from the castle.

—Yes, my secret hideout is near a stream. So, if we can hear the sound of it, it means we're close—Helena replied with a smile. But Apolo felt the girl's hand start to sweat excessively, and her grip tightened, making it clear that there was a big secret behind Helena's smile—In the hideout, my pets are there. It's a shame the guards realized so quickly that we escaped to the forest, or else we could enjoy the walk a bit more, but well, I promised to show you my pets, and fortunately, we're almost there. If the guards don't catch us, you'll be able to see them.

—Do you have pets? Could they be ducks?—Apolo asked somewhat bewildered by the answer; the boy didn't expect this whole journey to be about going to see some animals.

—Don't you remember? I told you they're a couple of adorable slugs—Helena replied, looking into the trees behind her with distrust, fearing that someone might emerge from them, while she quickened her steps, making Apolo walk faster.

—No, I didn't remember...—Apolo said quite honestly. The boy had spent almost an hour walking in silence up the hill, so everything indicated that if Apolo wanted more information to understand this dream, he had to ask for it, or else he would leave this place with nothing—Wait, did you say "slugs"? What kind of person has slugs as pets?

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—I know it's not very normal, but as I told you, my slugs are very cute. When you see them, you'll understand why I take care of them...—Helena replied, hurrying her steps toward her hideout.

—And why were those guards looking for us so urgently? Or why were the guards wearing silver masks? What does the silver mask mean?—Apolo asked abruptly, already too tired of entertaining wild ideas without reaching any coherent answers.

—They're looking for us because we're in the middle of the forest...—Helena replied as if it were obvious—I don't remember them wearing any masks; you probably confused it with their dark circles. In case you didn't notice, the guards were quite stressed about not finding us.

—You didn't see the masks on their faces?—Apolo asked incredulous, stopping in his tracks and causing Helena to push him slightly with her hand, but the boy didn't move.

—No, I didn't see any masks, but maybe they had them. I was nervous, and honestly, I didn't want to get caught. They probably wouldn't just give me a simple punishment if they found out I had brought you to the forest without permission—Helena replied sincerely, somewhat nervous and struggling to hide her annoyance at how Apolo had stopped moving.

—But I don't understand: Why would they punish us? They always let me go explore the forest!—Apolo exclaimed brusquely, expressing how frustrated he was for not understanding the meaning of things in this dream.

—If that were the case, the guards wouldn't be looking for us...—Helena replied, dragging her words, apparently uncomfortable with having to argue with the boy so close to reaching her hideout.

Losing his patience, Helena turned around and somewhat abruptly dragged Apolo by taking his hand, causing the boy to follow her steps, while he asked:

—So, did we leave the castle secretly?

—No, the guards brought us here, and then they killed themselves, and then a couple of ducks revived them, and the poor guards realized they had lost us, so they started looking for us desperately in the forest...—Helena replied with a mocking tone, clearly ironic.

Unfortunately, the girl didn't understand that what she had just said was an absolute certainty for the confused boy. Therefore, Apolo ended up asking in the most abrupt way possible:

—So, the guards' suicide is an analogy for me dying right now, and their resurrection is an analogy for my new path as an ancestor. However, the fact that the guards are lost looking for us actually means that I'm unable to find my way as an ancestor. Is that it? Is that the idea behind all of this?

—...—Helena stopped and turned to look at Apolo, wondering how this boy had lost his mind in a matter of minutes. Maybe it was because the boy was in love with her, and that's why, being alone in the middle of the forest holding hands, he was so nervous that he was saying all these nonsense things. But the truth was that even under those conditions, Apolo's behavior was strange, and to make matters worse, it was strange at the worst possible moment: because the children were just a few meters away from the secret hideout!

What Helena didn't know was that Apolo remembered perfectly how he had killed himself and how he had "come back to life" to become the ancestor of certain Tea and Cristobal. Then, in an incredibly strange way, he appeared in the forests of the castle with his childlike body, as if this were a dream. Therefore, everything in Apolo's mind indicated that this was a dream given by his ancestors to guide him on the new path he would have to follow. Completely diverting Apolo from the correct answer, which had been mentioned to him a few hours ago by Helena herself.

—I heard something over here!—shouted a guard in the distance, causing both Helena and Apolo to turn in the direction from which the shout had come. The two children couldn't see the guards, but they could hear their footsteps approaching from the distance.

—They heard you, idiot! We have to run or they'll catch us! Quick, let's go to my secret hideout!—Helena shouted, taking the bewildered Apolo by the hand and dragging him to the top of the hill.