It had been two days since André woke up in his original world. In that time, he hadn't yet looked at the sky, lain on the grass in the sun, or done any other thing he was used to doing in the last few years. He had merely stayed locked up, recovering, in the Security Division headquarters headed by Felipe.
But at least the food in this place was good; he was well-nourished and recovered. Every day there were three meals interspersed with an endless number of snacks at odd hours.
It was in one of those moments of attempting to extinguish the cookies from the kitchen that he was surprised by a girl he hadn't seen yet. She was short, perhaps measuring no more than 1.50 meters, wore huge glasses and braids, looking idiotic. She wore an outfit different from the guards: denim dungarees with a colorful blouse underneath.
"MY COOKIES!" she shouted upon entering the kitchen. "So it was you who was emptying my cookie jar."
André showed no reaction at first; however, upon seeing the expression of hatred in the girl's eyes, he threw the glass jar toward her, who caught it with agility, moving away immediately.
"My precious..." said the strange girl while staring at the snacks through the transparency of the glass that molded the object in her hands. "Mommy is here..."
André continued to observe the girl who was salivating and contemplating the cookies, crouched in a corner of the kitchen.
"I didn't know they were yours..." he tried to explain.
"GRRRRRR!" she didn't answer, just growled.
Felipe opened the door and entered the kitchen as well; upon seeing the scene, he couldn't contain his laughter.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha... I can't believe it! You are acting like a crazy person over some cookies?"
"They aren't just some cookies," she replied, pouting. "They are the best from the bakery on the corner..."
Felipe was still laughing while passing by the girl, heading toward André. He pulled up a chair and sat next to his adventure companion from another world.
"This goofball here is Lídia," said Felipe, pointing to the girl hugging the cookie jar. "She is my right hand here, can you believe it?"
"You have a gift for attracting strange people..." André mocked. "I even think this one here..."
André didn't finish the sentence; he just gestured with his fist rotating around his ear.
"Don't forget you are also always close to me," Felipe retorted. "Not even Kawã wanted you at his base and sent you here."
"Maybe they think you are the only one who can 'control' me..." André insinuated.
"Maybe... But I know you well; you are uncontrollable," Felipe agreed.
"And you are the most dangerous of all," André shot back. "The only one who managed to beat me twice, and you aren't even a combatant. I think you are still underestimated, even here in this world taking care of a place like this when you could be exploring everything out there..."
"There isn't much to be explored here; everything we need is on the internet." Felipe made an expression of dejection, returning immediately to his habitual smiling face. "But everything has its good side. Would you believe that here there are stories that look a lot like what happened to us? You need to read them."
André said nothing, just agreed.
The smile on the face of the Black young man with dreads and yellow jacket contrasted greatly with the serious and icy expression of the anemic young man with disheveled brown hair. Lídia watched the scene of the two talking while emptying the cookie jar; she looked like a spectator at the movies with a bucket of popcorn.
"Tell me..." Felipe said, getting up and heading toward the refrigerator. He took out two sandwiches, handed one to André. "How did you manage to cross?"
André's constant serious expression gradually changed, becoming a bit bitter. He gave a long sigh, bit the sandwich, and began:
"In the ruins of the mountain range..." He paused, swallowing the sandwich. "There was an inscription about the 7 keys that open the doors between the two worlds..."
"Yes, I know," Felipe retorted. "It was I who discovered it, and Zita helped me translate... We stayed there for two weeks; never seen a place with so many insects..."
"But that is the problem..." André interrupted. "The translation was incomplete!"
Felipe's eyes almost popped out of his face.
"Are you telling me you translated the last parts of the original text? How did you do that?"
"Yes! It wasn't easy, but I managed to translate it," André replied quite calmly. "And to my surprise, it revealed the existence of an eighth key, created by a more ancient existence. This key doesn't open doors, but rather windows..."
"What do you mean 'windows'?" Felipe's habitual smile had been replaced by an expression of curiosity.
"It isn't a conventional way," André replied. "And it doesn't depend on the power of the gods, because it is a key that wasn't built by them." At that moment he took another bite of the sandwich. "Ah! And it can be used as many times as needed..."
Lídia couldn't fully follow the subject, but she managed to understand the basics. She remembered that to return, the 32 heroes used the seventh key, which upon closing the portal broke. Apparently, each key could only open one door between the two worlds, and after closing it, the object created by the gods of the other world would break, preventing it from being used again.
"But what was this window?"
"Where is this key?" inquired Felipe with a serious expression.
"As far as I know..." André bit the sandwich again. "It is with Kawã..."
"That could be problematic..." Felipe grumbled.
"Not at all, it is in a small wooden box; he doesn't know what it is..." André made a gesture with his bandaged fist toward Felipe, for him to calm down.
"WHAT?" Lídia couldn't contain herself. "How can a small wooden box protect such an important key?"
André finished eating his sandwich, took a sip of water, and spoke calmly:
"It is wood from the Eternal Forest, sealed by the desert mages; only I know how to open that box."
Lídia seemed not to believe it, but Felipe appeared to be calmer, and that calmed the girl.
"Since we returned, many people have been trying to find a way to open the door from this side," Felipe explained. "If they discover that you used that key to jump through the window, both worlds could be at risk."
"But I didn't jump through the window; I never said I used the key..." André retorted.
Felipe was increasingly confused; he couldn't say anything.
"In the same text that spoke of the eighth key, it also spoke of what separates the two worlds..." André continued. "The fabric of reality, and that the ruins of Motog hid the secret to tearing that fabric..."
"Motog? The temple of the dead?" Felipe cut in. "The sage of the tower once said that place was the cradle of the gods, but there is no proof that it exists..."
"It exists! And I found it!" André retorted. "In the desert, right in the center, buried in the sand 200 meters deep, and there was the answer."
"What?" Felipe's curiosity was visible.
"Power... Sacrifice... Willpower..." André described as ingredients. "And a lot of blood!"
"That's why your arms..." Felipe murmured. "So the legend is true?"
"Yes!" André nodded. "You were right!"
Felipe finally smiled, took a bite of the sandwich he was holding, and getting up, looked at Lídia sitting on the floor holding the empty glass jar. Making a sign with his hand, he indicated that it was time to go back to work.
André also got up. Upon leaving the kitchen, André headed down another corridor saying:
"I'm going to meet Valmir; he told me there is a training area here... I need to get in shape."