⚠️ Warning: This chapter contains references to post-traumatic stress and difficult childhood memories, though without explicit violence.
🫠 Author's Note: Sometimes I wonder, what would have become of me if someone had given me a hug at the right moment… maybe I wouldn't be writing this novel. 😉
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We might be in another dream. But this isn't Nuriel's dream; it's Jack's dream.
Jack is in the middle of his bed. And the only thing he sees are people. Three people: his father, his mother, and his sister.
But… they had no faces. Their features were washed out, as if something prevented him from seeing them.
Jack tries to speak to them:
"Dad… Mom…"
But suddenly, the scene shifts. He's no longer in his house. Now he's trapped in the confined forest.
There, Galton appears, watching him with that unsettling calm:
"Come on, boy. It's time to prepare you to be the Saint of Fire."
Jack reacts:
"The Saint of Fire?! You don't leave me alone, not even in my dreams?!"
However, Galton wasn't speaking with his own voice, but with Kamei-san's voice:
"Are you talking about yourself, or about me?"
At that moment, his father appears beside Galton.
"Dad…" Jack whispers, his voice breaking.
But his father doesn't answer. He only walks in a trance, just like the last time Jack saw him. Jack begins to plead:
"Dad, tell me what happened to you. What was going on that day? I… I don't know. I don't know what was happening to you. I don't know where Mom or my sister are…"
The memories strike him, and he murmurs:
"My sister… my sister… Shushan. Her name is Shushan. Dad, what did you do to her? What did you do to Mom?"
At that moment, dark and sinister figures tie him to a tree trunk. Jack couldn't break free, because those figures had no shadow.
They were the shadow:
"Please… let me go! Let me go!"
Jack looks at his father in fear:
"Dad, please… answer me…"
And then, in the dream, Jack begins to turn into a child again. He babbles:
"No… Dad… please… no… please… What did you do to Mom?! What did you do to Shushan?!"
But his father shows no mercy. He raises the whip and strikes Jack across the face.
Jack opened his eyes suddenly, gasping, His chest heaved, as though the nightmare still clung to him. He realized it was already noon.
Danae walked into his room and asked:
"What's wrong? I was about to wake you, but… I don't know, I think you were having a nightmare."
Jack touched his face, still trembling:
"I dreamed of a horrible memory, Danae…" he said in a faint voice.
Danae frowned, but quickly shifted her mood:
"Well, I don't care about that right now. What matters is… it's time to eat!"
Her enthusiasm was contagious. She may not have fully understood the weight of what Jack was feeling, but her energy filled the room. Jack started screaming, as if his very soul were trying to break free from Dánae's embrace, even while he held on to her.
"How about we go to the waterfall this time? I feel like… I don't know… fishing. I've never done it, but I want to give it a try. Besides, you told me Kamei-san might not be coming back anytime soon, and I've already lost count."
"According to the calendar he gave us, it should be August. So… why don't we go fishing?"
Jack sighed, trying to relax:
"Alright. Let's go to the waterfall. I'll teach you how to do it, Danae."
Danae jumped with joy:
"Yes! You're going to teach me how to fish and make… what's it called? Oh, fish stew! It's delicious!"
And so, Jack and Danae headed to the waterfall.
Jack was the very first saint of them all.
From Danae's perspective—the cheerful girl who, despite having lost her family in the Battle of Stalingrad, had learned to carry her pain—her life would have been much harder without the help of Jack and Kamei-san.
Adelaida was a resilient woman, a warrior. She had endured suffering ever since they left Germany for Berlin, through the concentration camps; from the sea to Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. An intrepid and courageous woman.
Nuriel, a young Holocaust survivor, had pushed his maturity to the limit, becoming a strong and determined man.
Kamei-san, the immortal, a man who had lived for centuries, loved many times, and was willing to risk everything for the saints.
And Galton, portrayed as ruthless, a being who, despite the centuries, revealed the darkest side of immortality.
But… what about Jack? What of him?
Danae watched Jack, lost in his thoughts as he held the fishing rod.
"You're so boring," she said.
Jack looked at her:
"Do you really think so?"
She laughed a little and went on:
"I don't get you. You're not like Kamei-san.
Sure, you've got hair… but honestly, it's a mess.
It looks like an animal's burrow."
Jack said nothing.
"Tell me, why don't you do anything? I don't understand. What's wrong with you?" Danae insisted.
"I've realized that, after spending so much time here, I can tell when a person is strong and when they're not," Danae replied calmly.
But Jack couldn't take his eyes off the lake. There was something about it, a silent energy that seemed to reflect anguish, a deep weariness that had been building in his mind day after day.
"Tell me, Jack, what's wrong with you?" she asked again.
Jack ignored her:
"Nothing's wrong with me."
Danae grew a little angry:
"Fox head.
Fox face.
Raccoon spit.
Sheep dung."
Jack was starting to get upset. Even though the insults were childish, Danae delivered them with force and cunning, showing she knew how to provoke a reaction without losing her wit.
Jack sighed:
"That's not true. I'm sixty years old, or maybe older, I don't know."
"So what?" Danae asked. "What does it matter that you're that age? Why don't you laugh? Why don't you smile? Why don't you enjoy life? You always seem so sad."
Jack just looked at her:
"You wouldn't understand. Let's just keep fishing."
Defiant, Danae began hitting him with her fishing rod.
"Kid, that's enough, please. I don't want to talk about this," Jack said.
But she kept at it, again and again. Desperate, Jack grabbed the rod and snapped it in two with a single squeeze of his fist. A flame burst out around him, enveloping the ground, his hands, and his hair; his clothes began to smell of burning.
His voice thundered with such force that it made the earth tremble as he shouted:
"Kid, enough!"
Danae froze in fear. It was the first time Jack had ever yelled at her.
Jack tried to calm down and noticed the flame was burning his clothes. He jumped into the water from the shore to protect his face and hands. Danae followed him, crawling, and with both hands on his cheeks, she looked him in the eyes:
"Tell me, why? Why are you always so quiet? Why do you never talk? You talk, but so little. Not even when you were with Kamei-san. Why are you like this? Why does it feel like you're lying to me?"
"This place is small, but it's beautiful to me. I don't understand what's going on with you."
Jack didn't know how to respond. Only Galton's words echoed in his mind:
"You're shit. You'll never be like Zaziel. You're filth, trash."
Danae began to speak out loud:
"I've been learning with you, but I'm tired of it now. If you don't want to tell me how you feel, maybe we should sleep in different places—you on one side of the forest, me on the other. It seems like you're not being honest."
"Tell me, why don't you talk? Why are you always off in a corner, as if I disgusted you?"
Danae's tears began to fall. She cared deeply for Jack, but his silence hurt her profoundly. She felt rejected; she couldn't bear the thought that someone she valued was lying or hiding what tormented him.
Jack saw the silhouette of his sister in Danae. No matter how hard he tried to lie, his fears slipped away like sand through his fingers.
"It's not that I don't care about you," Jack said. "It's not that I don't care about you."
He looked at her intently:
"This is the first time a saint has entered this place. And even though you're just a girl, I don't know what I could possibly teach you. I don't want to make you uncomfortable or have you see me as someone unpleasant. And even when you joke, I can't help but wonder what you really think of me."
"And the reason I don't talk is because I don't know what to say to you, Danae. As unbelievable as it may seem, you've explored the whole world."
"I… I don't remember anything, not even my real name. Jack is the name Kamei-san gave me. You talk about your parents, but I don't even remember mine. I barely remember my sister's name.
"Danae, you're amazing. You even handle words better than I do. I don't know what to say to you or how to make you stop thinking I'm boring. What could I even talk about? Authors? About what? I never learned anything, Danae.
"I'm sixty years old and I don't know how to behave. I don't know anyone except Kamei-san and Galton. My whole life I've been here, trapped with the pain of not knowing what lies beyond this forest. The only thing I have is the prophecy… and that hurts, because I don't know what it means."
Danae pulled him close to her chest and held his head in her arms:
"I'm just a girl, but I know how to comfort and how to be comforted. I know what to do when someone feels like this. Jack, you don't need to tell me everything or try to impress me. I just want you to play with me, that's all. I don't see you as 'Jack, the youth of the prophecy'; I see you as Jack, the second saint I've ever known.
"I don't like that you're always left behind. In these months in Vermont we could have done so many things, but you were always off in your corner. Don't you think that if we spent more time together, the days would be easier? Tell me, Jack… do you see me as the saint of the prophecy?"
Jack looked her in the eyes and answered:
"No."
"Then how do you see me?" the girl asked.
"I see you as Danae, the wonderful girl who came to this place," Jack said.
Danae smiled and began to cry as well, trying to smile through it:
"Let's see each other that way. What do you think?"
Jack thought for a moment and then laughed:
"You sure don't hold your tongue."
"If my tongue didn't weigh me down, then I wouldn't come from Stalingrad," Danae replied, laughing.
But Jack, though he wanted to laugh, couldn't stop himself from crying. Standing in the water, he said between sobs:
"I'm sorry… forgive me… I'll stop…"
Danae hugged him tightly:
"There's plenty of water in this place. Until you leave all your tears in this waterfall, we won't go. I want to cry too."
Jack's body gave way; he lost his strength and could barely stand. Danae was at the shore, holding his hair, and as she stroked it, she said:
"It's okay… my mom taught me how to hug someone when they cry."
Jack, with pain in his mouth and the urge to scream, held Danae in his arms. The way she caressed him quieted his mind, stirring forgotten feelings, and in that instant he remembered his sister, when she used to say:
"Little brother, come play with me. Come on, Mom is baking walnut rolls. Little brother, you're so cute—look, you'll play with Siran and I'll play with Lulu."
Jack screamed; it was as if his very soul was trying to tear free, even as he clung to Dánae.
His tears streamed from eyes and nose, the release of all those years without a single hug. The last woman who had held him was his sister.
Dánae then saw Jack's scars—on his head, his neck, his arms—and for a moment she felt a glimpse of the pain he carried.
Holding her tightly, Jack felt both cold and heat at once: the cold of the water washing away his burden, and the warmth of Dánae's chest. And he whispered,
"Shushan… little sister… what happened to you…?"
Dánae realized—or perhaps she only understood it in that moment—that Jack might never be able to explain everything to her. Just by hearing his cries and screams, she could sense that there were secrets he would never share.
So she remained silent, waiting for his tears to finish falling before leaving the water.
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While Dánae remained beside Jack, letting his tears blend with the river's water, elsewhere, far from Vermont, the camp lay in calm.
Adelaida slept peacefully, and the silence was broken only by Nuriel's voice, who finally decided to speak:
"How much longer until Vermont?"
"At this pace, we'll arrive in four days," Kamei-san replied calmly. "But there's no rush."
"I'm at peace knowing things have improved. If it weren't for Dr. Steve, Lieutenant Luis, and my comrade Frank, I might never have made it to Greenland. Avoiding the mines was a real challenge, especially at the end of winter."
Nuriel looked at him, curious.
"Kamei-san, we need to help Adelaida walk again. The doctor said she could, even if with a slight limp. We have to get modern medical supplies, medicines, everything she'll need."
Kamei-san nodded.
"I'll bring everything necessary to help Adelaida walk again. But you must know something: once you set foot in Vermont, you won't be able to leave until Galton allows it. Escaping before that will be impossible."
"So why are you taking us there?" asked Nuriel suspiciously. "Is it a trap? A cage?"
Kamei-san lowered his voice, his tone serious.
"Something strange is happening, Nuriel. Ever since I began traveling, I've felt that there are forces that could endanger the saints. I don't know exactly what they are, but if my suspicions are correct, it would explain why Galton wants to keep them confined in Vermont."
Nuriel frowned.
"I think that's just an excuse."
Kamei-san sighed and went on:
"Alright, I'll tell you what I've managed to find out. On one of my journeys, strange things have happened in China. There are traces of angelic rot… angels acting against everything, even against hell itself."
"They've tried to open a tomb I've visited several times: the Pit of Judgment, where my brother Zaziel is buried. Or perhaps he's still alive, though I doubt it."
"What kind of tomb is that?" asked Nuriel.
"It's not an ordinary tomb; it's something like the confined forest," said Kamei-san. "And that fool Galton hasn't given me any explanation about how to open it."
"I want to give Zaziel a proper burial. But I've seen attempts to break into the Pit, and I've seen its seal weaken. That means…"
Kamei-san stopped, staring at Nuriel with grave intensity.
"For now, I won't tell you everything. You need to process this first; it could still be just speculation.
If what I'm saying is true, the safest option is for you to remain inside the confined forest. That way, no threat can reach the saints.
Nuriel, you didn't survive the wars or Greenland just to let an even greater danger find you or Adelaida. That's why I'll take you there—the safest place on Earth."
Nuriel nodded, understanding the weight of the situation.
"Alright. Even though I don't like it, I have to admit you've earned enough of my trust for me not to doubt your words."
While the stars still shone, recalling Kamei-san's return with the Saint of Wind and Thunder, in the confined forest it was still daylight—a place that followed its own rules.
Jack and Dánae were walking back after fishing, carrying two trout. They walked in silence until Dánae finally broke it.
"One question, Jack."
"What is it?" he asked, curious.
"My name is Dánae Valciev, but you… you don't have a last name, do you?"
Jack frowned.
"Last name?"
"Yes, well… I've always seen it. Even authors seem to have a pseudonym or a second name," Dánae explained playfully. "I've always thought every man should have an elegant last name. What do you think of… Ivanov?"
"I don't know… I don't like it," Jack said.
"Rossi, Petrov, or Kowalski," Dánae proposed quickly.
"Hmm… I'd lean toward the second one," Jack muttered, uncertain.
"Or what about Dubois, Smirnov, Lefevre, or Zhang?" Dánae continued, teasing.
Jack glanced at her and murmured,
"Jack Kowalski… sounds a bit long, doesn't it?"
Dánae thought for a moment, then smiled mischievously.
"Well… he's like a prince of this forest: reserved, a little shy, even handsome… hmm… maybe I should invent him a last name, one that sounds powerful."
She whispered,
"Fürts… Fürts… Jack Fürts."
Then she exclaimed,
"I've got it! Fürts. How about… Jack Fürts?"
"Jack Fürts… what kind of name is that?" Jack asked, confused.
"It's the name of a prince," Dánae replied as she ran toward the house. "I've decided—your name will be Jack Fürts. That's who you are now."
Jack couldn't help blushing, but in the end he gave in.
"Jack Fürts… well, at least it doesn't sound bad."