⚠️ Warning: The following content may include explicit images of injuries and deal with sensitive topics for WebNovel readers. Remember that all of this is fiction, and reader discretion is advised
📝 Author's Note: I must admit that I've been a little tired. I'll keep working, but… this is tiring, you know? Doing it every day really wears you out.
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"It was silent. It was strange. Thoughts seemed to flutter, perhaps a sign that the forest was listening too. Everything suggested that the forest was alive.This forest has changed over time: it used to grow bamboo, and it was located in China.But now pines, birches, and mahoganies grow here, and it is in Vermont.It was strange, as if it were a mystical being. Perhaps this forest has life or consciousness.Who knows?The only thing that is certain is that the forest is asleep.And… it is listening to the fight taking place over its land."
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"This time, I'm going to take charge of this! God has chosen me to find the Saint of Nature, and you cannot go against God," said Kamei-san.
Galton froze at the unexpected reaction.
Meanwhile, Nuriel, with the medical backpack slung over his shoulder, tried to stop Adelaida's bleeding.
He paused for a moment, analyzing the situation:"This girl hit Adelaida. But… now that I see her on the ground, I don't know why. I can't feel anger toward her.""She spoke in a strange language… based on her features, I would dare say she comes from the west.""I could tell she only targeted Adelaida. Is this girl violent? …But why was she crying?""I won't let my guard down in case she throws another stone. Though, honestly, seeing it this way… I don't understand why Kamei-san is defending her."
"Adelaida," Nuriel whispered, "come on, stand up. This idiot might lose his mind; we need to hide. Let's go into the forest."
Adelaida was staring at the ground, remembering the last time she saw her mother and sisters, and she said to herself:
"Why does everyone keep telling me the same thing? Why does it feel like, with my wounds, I'm paying for something I didn't do? I have the right to complain, too."
"I'm tired of everyone always telling me that Germany is the black sheep, as if that explained everything, as if their wounds and their fears were my fault. It's not fair. It's not my fault, and I don't want to keep hearing the same thing over and over anymore."
However, she remembered everything that had happened with Nuriel, took a few seconds to breathe, and organized her thoughts:
"If Nuriel was on the verge of death because of my nation, then this girl must have gone through something similar... I'm not going to think about whether she hates me, I don't want to speculate, but if she is a saint and mentions Germany and her parents, most likely, just like me, she has no place to return to."
At that moment, she thought of her mother, of how she used to caress her when she felt alone, and, almost whispering, she said:
"Mama, what would you do in my place?"
Adelaida pulled from her coat the same pistol she had aimed at Kamei-san in Greenland. It still had three bullets.
With a steady voice, she said:"Galton, I've always had this weapon pointed at you, but I never had the chance to shoot."
As she aimed at Galton, Adelaida felt every word leaving her mouth as an act of defiance. She fired at his left calf as a clear message: "An eye for an eye."
"Stay away from us, Galton!" she shouted firmly. "We've reached Vermont! Now you can get out of here! I see that you have no scruples… You're a bastard! How can you kick a girl!"
She took a deep breath, struggling against the rage and the pain from her wounds.
"That girl hit me, that's true," she continued. "But I'm German, and I won't deny it! I can't hide my language, my blood, or my family: my father, my mother, and my sisters are German, and that's who I am too."
For a moment, Dánae watched in silence. Adelaida wasn't speaking just for herself, but for all the untold stories of those who had survived and carried the weight of others' guilt.
"Germany is not only what others have suffered," she said with a firm voice, almost trembling with restrained emotion. "Germany is also my family. What my nation did does not define my actions, but I will not remain silent either."
"I, being the saint of the wind and born in that land, say this: God will judge me for my own sins, not for those of my homeland. I will defend what is right, because my parents taught me something that runs in my blood."
" The heart of a woman must be strong enough to withstand the bullets life fires at you!"
She lifted her gaze, a mix of determination and empathy.
"It doesn't matter if that girl threw a stone at me for being German. It's true. And from what I can see, she has a connection with Kamei-san. She spoke to me in Chinese… that means she's a saint too."
"Just as I earned Nuriel's trust, I will earn hers as well. This girl is not to blame for what my nation did. But, Galton" —she aimed again—, "this bullet is also on me: for putting Nuriel and me in danger, and for the burden you've been from Greenland all the way here."
"Stay away from us, you son of a bitch!"
Galton began to shout:"What is all this? Now everyone's turning against me? What happened to my cabin? Why is there a second cabin in front of me? What's happening to this place? Does this place not belong to me anymore?"
At that very moment, a cherub appeared—the same cherub that had appeared in Greenland, in Germany… the same one that had spoken with Kamei-san, even with Jack.
The cherub spoke to Galton:"Galton, God's new orders are that you leave this place. This place does not belong to you. That cabin no longer belongs to you either. The confined forest is for the Saints. God is exiling you from here."
Galton screamed at the angel:"So, you're telling me that God—on top of my wife, my son, the previous Saints—is also taking everything from me? Answer me!"
The angel came closer. With the embers of his hands, he sealed the fingers cut by Kamei-san and said:"Leave this place, Galton."
Galton watched the angel vanish and screamed:"Fine! If you all want to keep this place so badly, then keep it! I don't care anymore! I'm sick of this! I'm tired of everything! I'm leaving!"
"If God has now chosen Kamei-san to be the one who selects the chosen ones, then so be it…!"
"Kamei-san," Galton said harshly, "let me tell you something! If you think they're going to replace everything that once existed, you're wrong! No one holds that position! No one!"
Kamei-san looked at him without flinching and calmly replied:"I'm not trying to replace anything, Galton. My wives are irreplaceable, just like my children and my grandchildren. No one is replaceable. To me, the lives of the people here are worth even more than my own."
Galton spat out a bitter laugh."Then keep this dump. I don't care anymore." He shouted: "Jack, we're leaving!"
Jack stood up tense. He rose in fear, because memories of how he had been beaten came flooding back —and now he had hit Dánae—; everything that man had made him suffer was reflected on his face, and his hands tightened.
Jack stood facing him for a few seconds and screamed with all his might:"Get out!"
Bending his knees, he took a five-step run and launched himself in a leap, like an animal.
Flames shot from his hands, with a distinctive color: orange with deep red, up to his elbows. Immediately after, he punched Galton, knocking him down with a single blow.
Without stopping, Jack lunged at him and pummeled his face relentlessly, his voice broken from years, remembering that since childhood his back had been marked by scars, dagger cuts, wounds from wild animals and heat tortures. His hands, thick and rough.
showed calluses; sore from so much abuse, sometimes he couldn't even hold a fork without his fingers trembling.
His body bore marks; his legs were hardened, the result of forced training with sticks and stones. His eyes reflected the exhaustion from the nights he didn't sleep because Galton wouldn't let him.
Sleeping for him meant waking at midnight, only for that man to throw him off another cliff or put him in front of a puma. He taught him techniques that destroyed him — dislocated him, broke his bones.
He never told him why or for what; over all those years his humanity, his identity, slipped away. He never had a purpose: Jack was denied the most basic act of creation… living.
Flesh opened and closed again and again, and, despite having divine invulnerability, nothing erased what his body had become. Jack screamed as he struck.
"Fine, Galton! I'll go with you, but only to the door! First I'll kill you and then I'll carry you to the door to throw you out of here! Don't you dare touch Dánae! I swear it, Galton: you've tortured me for as long as I can remember!"
The blows were frantic, as if Jack were unleashing decades of abuse. Galton tried to defend himself, but Jack's fury was too much; the fire in his hands made him more lethal than ever.
Perhaps he regained confidence. Perhaps Dánae —with her words— had ignited something in him.
"I've been tormented fifty, sixty years in this place!"
As he connected one blow after another, he didn't stop. Each strike came from the soul.
"Every decade was torment! You never gave me peace or purpose! You compared me to Zaziel! What fault is that of mine? I'm not your son! I never will be! I'm not the chosen one!"
"Now I have a name: my name is Jack Fürst! I won't be what you want! I'm going to kill you and I'll be free! At last I'll be free; I can stop being your slave!"
"I want to know what it feels like to love and what it feels like for you not to be here! I will live! With your death!"
The blows drew blood. Several of his teeth were knocked out. It was the violence bottled up for years that finally exploded.
Then Kamei-san, in a firm voice, stopped Jack's burning wrist. The flames licked his skin; his fingers were already burned. With authority he forced him to stop:"That's enough! Stop!"
Jack obeyed, trembling.
Dánae was scared. Although she had already heard Jack scream once, this time was different: she felt protected, yet at the same time afraid of Jack.
Adelaida watched him and couldn't help thinking nothing. This was the same feeling of terror she had felt toward Galton, but different.
That young man didn't seem to be her enemy, but neither, by his words, did he seem like an ally.
It was strange, because, unlike Kamei-san, although he appeared very pragmatic and even responsible, the fury of this man could even be compared to that of an animal.
Nuriel couldn't help but feel broken with every word he spoke, because she could feel the pain he had carried for years. In her mind she wondered:"If he's a saint… I didn't understand a single word he said… but it seems he hates Galton… this guy is dangerous"
Galton, rising with difficulty, had no words. He felt humiliated.
He didn't want to admit it, but, in Jack's blows, he saw Zaziel, and every truth spoken cut deep.
For the first time he couldn't hold onto his pride. He found himself miserable before Jack's truth.
Galton looked him in the eyes and said, flatly:"Goodbye, Jack."
Without waiting any longer, he just turned and walked; he had no strength to run, he simply walked, until he lost sight of him.
But no one wanted to accompany him, not even Kamei-san to the exit. They remained still until they saw, in the distance, that he had truly left. Without saying a word, without shouting, just an immortal to whom no one seemed to care what would become of him.
The group could finally breathe after fifteen minutes.
They entered the house. Nuriel seated Adelaida at the table to attend to the wound on her forehead, disinfected his hands, and prepared the equipment. However, Kamei-san interrupted him with a soft voice, almost contrite:"Nuriel, please: let me treat Adelaida. It's my way of asking her forgiveness for what happened with Dánae."
Nuriel looked at him distrustfully, about to reprimand him for what Dánae had done. Kamei-san added:"I found Dánae in southern Stalingrad. The Germans completely exterminated that place. I brought her here, avoiding the Germans, but I didn't expect her to react that way."
Nuriel let his guard down and, still tense, said:"Nuriel, please, forgive me." —He corrected himself in a low voice— "Dánae is not a bad girl; she's too impulsive. She doesn't know Adelaida or the context of why she came."
"Alright, Kamei-san," replied Nuriel, "but make sure she doesn't approach Adelaida."
He stepped back a few paces and added:"I give you permission to treat her."
Kamei-san shook his head and changed his tone:"Nuriel, please: could you check on Dánae? She's lying on her bed, and the blow Galton gave her hurts badly. She'll need rest for several days, but I'd like you to give me your diagnosis."
Nuriel hesitated, not entirely confident. He left the room and went upstairs to attend to Dánae; reluctantly, he searched every room.
"That stupid girl hit Adelaida. I don't care, really, what context she lived through. Kamei-san, this is a favor, not a way to forgive that girl."
When he entered Dánae's room, he faced a reality.
Nuriel almost cried upon seeing Dánae; she was in a fetal position, clutching her stomach, struggling to breathe; her ears, nose, and eyes were red, a response to the pain she felt.
And he could hear her voice breaking, saying only five words; she was speaking in Russian. Nuriel didn't understand, but he could sense the meaning of those five words.
—Папочка… мамочка… (Mom… Dad)
Nuriel's doubts collapsed instantly. He couldn't help but be moved by a crying child. Jack was by her side, holding Dánae's hand. She whispered:—Больно… очень больно… (It hurts… it hurts so much…)
Nuriel approached carefully:—Czy mogę ją zobaczyć?... (Can I see her?) —he asked.
Jack looked at him with distrust, a warning in his voice:—你是谁?!你也想伤害达娜吗?!… (Who are you? You want to hurt Dánae too?!)
Jack stood up; Nuriel watched him and felt respect. Unlike the others, Jack faced things with sheer brute strength.
Nuriel noticed the burns on his hands, thought for a moment, and confirmed:"I have no doubt you're a saint. Perhaps the saint of fire or flames."
Nuriel lifted his gaze and said:—Kamei-san sent me to heal her. You may not know it, but I'm the saint of lightning. If you are saints, I would like us to be allies… or at least respect each other as brothers.
—Now I understand why Dánae threw the stone. Please, let me heal her. Let me use my medical knowledge.
However, Nuriel didn't understand Dánae or Jack. The languages they used included English, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hebrew. Meanwhile, the only languages Nuriel and Adelaida could communicate in were German; Nuriel also knew Polish and a little Italian, but no more.
Jack, still tense, replied:—走开,不要打扰,达娜正在等神谷先生.… (Go away, don't disturb, Dánae is waiting for Kamei-san)
However, Dánae vomited again, this time with some blood. Nuriel reacted quickly and helped the girl, lifting her so she wouldn't suffocate.
Jack was about to strike him, but when he saw him cleaning the vomit and placing a wet cloth on her forehead, he realized something:"He's doing the same thing Kamei-san did when Galton kicked me… could he be a doctor?"
Jack simply sat down and trusted him, saying nothing.
Nuriel positioned Dánae so she could endure the abdominal pain better and spoke softly:—Calm down, breathe. I'm going to touch you, okay? I need to see how serious the kick was.
However, when he lifted her dress, he was shocked by what he saw. He touched her carefully and detected the severity: the ribs were broken — two on the left side and one on the right — plus a purple mark.
He could sense internal swelling; the swelling would need to be reduced and the pain treated. He only intuited this by looking at her, because when he touched her with his fingers, Dánae screamed.
Nuriel spoke, almost whispering:
"Galton… you're a bastard… how can you do this to a child?"
While Nuriel tended to Dánae, Kamei-san worked on Adelaida: cleaning the wound, carefully applying alcohol, and closing the suture with steady, delicate hands. The stone had caused almost imperceptible damage; with a well-placed strand of hair, perhaps no one would notice the injury.
Adelaida murmured, her voice broken:"It's horrible… it's horrible that I'm the one getting hit and not you."
Kamei-san smiled with firm understanding:"Don't make me laugh. I'm trying to saturate the wound," he said calmly. "Breathe."
Adelaida laughed, a little relieved.
Curious, Adelaida asked:"That girl speaks Chinese, but she doesn't have Asian features. How is that possible?"
Kamei-san looked at her and said:"By the way, how do you know Chinese?"
Adelaida replied clearly, though weakly:"An angel gave me several languages when I met Galton. I know all the languages he speaks, even Chinese."
Kamei-san turned to Adelaida:"Forgive her, please. You don't know everything she's been through."
Adelaida nodded:"It's okay, that's understandable. If I were in her place, I would have reacted the same way."
Adelaida was looking away, a way of showing she was still upset about the situation. Kamei-san gently squeezed Adelaida's hand:"Don't isolate yourself. You're now in a place far from the wars. You'll be able to process your loss and live as you wish."
Adelaida, moved, couldn't contain her gratitude that someone was holding her hand, but tried to control her feelings; her mind was racing as she thought:"It's okay. Just let go of my hand, please."
"I'm sorry," said Kamei-san.
Jack watched them and commented:"Dánae is in bad shape. I don't know what that boy is doing, but he seems to be helping in some way."
Kamei-san frowned:"I don't understand. Everyone here has injuries, except the doctors. Could it be an excuse?"
Adelaida intervened:"What do you mean, the doctors?" she asked.
"Since you were in the hospital, Nuriel has been learning from Dr. Steve. Now his medical knowledge is highly applicable. He also stayed several days at the doctor's house and studied books he was given."
"Not only did he learn, but he expanded his knowledge. He was a doctor in the Auschwitz block; he has experience."
"I am a millenary doctor and herbalist."
"Here we have three patients: one with a bear bite on the leg and a wound on the forehead; Jack, with second-degree burns and internal organ damage; and Dánae, showing signs of bleeding from the kick."
"Damn it, Galton."
Adelaida asked:"Hey, the one with burns on your hands, tell me your name."
Jack introduced himself:"My name is Jack. Jack Fürst."
Kamei-san, surprised:"Fürst? Where did you get that?"
"You see, the one in front of you is the first saint of all. He is the saint of flames, the living torch. He is the saint of fire, the first of all of you."
Adelaida, amazed, greeted him:"Hello, nice to meet you."
"You are saints too," said Jack. "I apologize for what Dánae did."
"Don't worry," replied Adelaida. "I'll talk to her; after all, she knows nothing about us."
Despite everything, Adelaida felt the weight of coming from Germany, and even while being cared for, she couldn't help crying; she was frustrated and tired of everything.
Kamei-san noticed and was moved. He brought his hands to her cheeks, wiped her tears with his fingers, and said:"Don't cry. We'll fix this with food. The important thing is that you are here. Suffer no more; you're far from the wars, far from evil. Now you have us, and we'll make you smile again."
"Jack, prepare hot water," ordered Kamei-san. "I need to help Nuriel with Dánae's diagnosis."
Adelaida only thought:"Kamei-san is a great man. He knows what to say and what to do in moments of tension. I can't help feeling safe when he speaks… I've just arrived at this place, but, from how I'm processing it, everything… seems… so unreal."