A mattress smothered by a large blanket.

A shape was outlined underneath.

It was 6 o'clock in the morning.

The eyes of the young woman lying down were wide open.

As if magnetized by the ceiling, she could not detach her gaze from the peeling paint above her.

Was she staring at something or looking away?

She heard a strange noise behind her window.

It was unusual because she lived on the third floor.

She closed her eyes and stretched under the heavy blanket.

She got up slowly and went to the window to open it.

A cool winter air entered and made her shiver.

It was gray but that didn't bother the blue-eyed blonde.

Her stomach was in knots, she was annoyed by the noise she kept hearing.

She looked down and looked at its origin.

An old man was hanging out of her window, as if he had just climbed in.

He had a bald head, a small grayish mustache and half-closed eyes.

He looked at the young woman like a hungry man looks at a piece of meat, while making a disgusting sound with his tongue.

She clenched her fist and closed the window.

"Enough is enough."

She got dressed, went quickly through the bathroom, took her keys and left her apartment.

She drove a little over an hour before arriving at a cemetery built inside the ruins of a small castle.

She parked near the tents of a soldiers' camp.

She walked quickly, the sound of her footsteps muffled by the clay soil.

The silence of her presence was cut short by the sound of the heavy metal door that normally divided the world of the living from that of the dead.

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But to Hannah, these two worlds were now indistinguishable from each other.

"Oh hello Hannah, it's been a long time, I think." said Eno who was between the door and Lug's house, when he saw her come in.

"Hi Eno, Where is Lug?" replied Hannah who seemed to be in a hurry.

"Lug...? No idea, he must be out I guess."

"Lug? Out? That sounds unlikely."

"Ah you think?"

Hannah's intuition was as sharp as ever, she knew Eno was lying.

But she had no time to waste.

"Can I go to Roseraies?" she asked.

"Well yes, by all means!"

She thanked Eno and set off straight away.

Once in front of the Wise One’s tomb, she knocked on the metal door that was still open, to announce her arrival and entered.

"It took you a week to come back, it's less than I thought." said the Wise One upon seeing her.

Hannah advanced towards him, stepping over the coffin.

She pointed her finger at him, elbow bent and palm up.

Her eyes crinkled, her mouth slightly opened.

She was about to say something.

But at the last moment, seeing the Wise One’s relaxed look, she felt embarrassed.

She wanted to complain, to tell him how unbearable her life had become because of her new ability.

Seeing ghosts in her case meant more like seeing the old perverts who follow her and watch her constantly.

But she felt at that moment, looking at him, that she had wanted it.

She had wanted to live an adventure.

She had waited for the opportunity to transform the dull world in which she had been born, all her life.

To leave her dreary normality, no matter the path or the destination. That was the reason she was in this crypt.

The Wise One watched her slowly back up and sit on the coffin.

"Mmmh... You impress me again. I thought you would come and complain about your new power and ask me to fix everything for you..."

"That was what you wanted but I'm not going to give you that pleasure." replied Hannah, tapping her foot slightly, probably out of nervousness.

They looked at each other for a moment, sizing each other up.

"Lug has already started his training, I've explained the basics to him and I'll do the same with you. I hope you don't have anything planned because this is going to take a while."

"Training?" interest could be heard in Hannah's voice.

"Your life is going to be a living hell if you don't master this ability, but that much you know. Beyond that... I'm interested in your potential, I want to allow you to truly step into a new world, how about that?"

"What if I don't like this new world?" Hannah asked, yet with no intention of backing down.

"The discoverers when they set out for unknown lands had a great chance of dying before they got there, and when they did get there, a thousand other dangers awaited them. In spite of all this, they went ahead. Do you know why?"

"For money, honor.... Boredom perhaps." Hannah replied, while leaning her head on her hand.

"It goes deeper than that. Humans suffer from a disease, and always have, that makes them want to discover everything, to know everything. From Adam and Eve who bit into the apple, to the alchemists who braved the taboos to discover the philosopher's stone, to the terrible experiments that were hidden behind the great wars..."

He got up from his chair, walked over to Hannah and crouched down to be on the same level as her, to look into her eyes.

"We share this same disease that drives us to want to go beyond our nature. That enjoins us to be something more."

The Wise One's gaze was intense.

Hannah felt overwhelmed by his piercing eyes and swiftly shifted the topic.

"What does this training consist of?" she asked.

The Wise One's gaze changed all of a sudden, he stood up and went to sit down.

"You and Lug are complementary, I'm going to train you on two very different aspects. He will be the muscles and you will be his senses. I'm going to give you the opportunity to see and feel everything, exciting right?"