Читать книгу Universe Аeternov. Book three: A Heart in Ashes - - Страница 9

The Council is in the shadow of time.

At the edge of the Aeternes, where the sand still remembered the pulse of the Chrono-Heart, Alina stood alone. The wind was whispering to her what she already felt in her bones.:

«You’re too young.»

This voice did not belong to Inna, nor to Andrey, nor even to the Master of Chronos. It was the voice of the whole universe, tired but not broken.

«You need at least three more years,» he continued, «to walk the Path of Silence, to hear the pain of Darkness not as an enemy, but as a lost self, to learn not to save… but to be close.

Alina did not cry. She chose.

Not the way here. Not the way of the avenger. The path of a disciple is one who goes not for strength, but for understanding.

«Then I’ll start with the Green World,» she said aloud. – Where the trees are real… to the heart of the world.

1. Year one: The Green World is a school of listening.

The portal opened not with a hum, but with a rustle, as if reality itself had turned the page.

Alina stepped onto the soft earth of the Green World. The air smelled of books, bark, and children’s laughter. The sky is not the sky, but a living combination of vines and stellar formulas.

Vladimir Long met her, not in a scientist’s robe, but in a shirt made of intertwined leaves.

«You didn’t come here to observe,» he said without a smile. – You came for the silence between the words.

– Yes, – Alina replied. – I want to learn how to listen so that even the Darkness feels that it has been heard.

– Then the first task is to keep quiet. More than one day. Not for a week. A whole month. Let the mind stop screaming. Let the heart begin to hear.

A month of silence.

Alina lived in a house at the roots of the Temple of Roots. Without speech. Without orders. Without an internal dialogue, «must save.»

It hurt at first. My soul was being turned inside out. She, who used to be the one who works, who decides who brings the light… here, learned how to grow the light.

On the thirtieth day, she heard for the first time:

«I don’t want to be the Darkness.… I just forgot how to be a light.»

It was not a voice, but a pulse, somewhere in the Medical Black Abyss. Knox’s Pulse.

.

She didn’t answer. She was just there, in silence.

The lessons of Vladimir the long.

After a month of silence, the first steps began:

1. The art of listening to pain without wanting to «fix»

it – Pain doesn’t always ask for medicine, Vladimir said.: «Just sit with me. Don’t go away.»

Alina learned to sit with pain – her own and someone else’s – without fear, without haste, without heroism.

2. Reading the world without words

She’s learned to see:

• Cracks in the core are like loneliness diaries,

• the rustle of leaves is like the prayers of the forgotten,

• Mushroom growth after rain is like a hope that does not require permission.

3. Dialogue with the Shadow without fear

Vladimir led her to the Mirror of the Destroyed Time, where Knox was crying black tears.

– Look, – he said. «Not at the reflection. What’s behind it.

Alina did not see a monster. She saw a boy holding a flower made of light… and afraid that no one would notice him.

«There he is, – she whispered. «Forgotten.»

«Exactly, – Vladimir confirmed. – And while you see him as a child… The darkness will not win.

Vika is a shadow that has become a light.

In the middle of the year, Vladimir’s daughter, Vika, joined Alina. She didn’t study. It served as a bridge.

«I’m not listening to understand,» Vika said, sitting under the house that had grown up in the name of Sergei the Fearless. «I’m listening to accept.»

Together they practiced a silent dialogue – two people sitting in silence, where hearts speak to each other without words.

And it was at these moments that Alina realized for the first time:

salvation is not an action. It’s a condition.

The state of being around you is enough.

2. The second month: Reading the world without words.

When the first month of silence ended, Alina felt a strange sensation – not a voice, not a thought, but a quiet, trembling attention that spread across her chest like morning light through cracks in a wall. She was no longer rushing forward, looking for answers in words, or trying to «fix» the pain. She was just there. And in this simplicity, the world suddenly sounded.

Vladimir Long led her from the Temple of the Roots into the jungle of the Green World. The vines stretched towards the sky, the light slid along the bark of the trees, the leaves bent as if waiting for someone’s palm.

«Now you will learn to read what is not written, – he said, stopping at an ancient oak tree, the bark of which was riddled with cracks like old scars. – The world doesn’t scream. He whispers. And only those who have stopped being afraid of silence can hear it.

Lesson One: Cracks in the Bark – Loneliness Diaries

Vladimir led Alina to a tree that had stopped growing. Its trunk was riddled with a network of cracks, as if life itself was trying to escape, leaving scars of memory. Each crack is not just a wound, it is a cry of time, a letter written in pain and oblivion.

«Put your hand on the bark, – he said softly, almost prayerfully. «Don’t think about it. Don’t rate it. Feel it.

Alina touched the trunk. At first – cold, roughness, dryness. Pause. The silence. Nothing.

But then… a whisper. Thin, barely discernible, like the breath of the universe:

«I was standing here when the last leaf fell… and no one noticed.»

«I was crying under the branches, and the adults were walking by.»

«I’ve been waiting for rain for a hundred years… and the sky has forgotten my name.»

«It… remembers,» Alina whispered, and the tear that rolled down her cheek was both her own and someone else’s, a tear of the earth. – It doesn’t just exist. It implies. And it remains.

«Exactly, – Vladimir said. – As long as you see in him not an «object of nature», but a witness, you begin to read without words.

Lesson two: The rustle of leaves is the prayer of the forgotten.

The next day they entered the grove. The trees, still young, already bearing fatigue, bowed their branches, as if bowing before an invisible court. The wind blew through the leaves, and the sound was not a noise, but a moan – a prayer, a petition, a cry of a forgotten life.

«Sit down, – Vladimir said. «Close your eyes.» Listen. Not a noise, but a word.

Alina sat down on the soft moss, as if on a childhood memory. The wind touched her face. And she heard – the leaves were not rustling, they were singing:

«Let someone hear me…»

«I don’t want to disappear without a trace…»

«If you pass by, at least touch my branch…»

– Prayers, she whispered. «Those who were erased from memory… they stayed here.

– Yes, – Vladimir said. «Even if you’re not in the human world, you can stay in the tree world. The main thing is that someone hears.

Lesson three: Mushroom growth after rain is a hope that does not wait for resolution.

It rained on the third day. Warm, generous, like the tears of a mother who forgave her son. When the drops had subsided, Vladimir took Alina to a clearing where until recently there had been only earth and ashes.

Now there are hundreds of mushrooms. White, pink, gold. They sprouted in an hour. None of them asked: «May I»? Not one of them waited: «Is it time»?

– They don’t ask for the right to life, – Vladimir said. – They take it. Rain is a chance. He’s not waiting. He’s acting.

Alina knelt down. One fungus touched her finger, and at that moment she heard:

«I’m not a hero. I just grew up. But if you see me, you will believe that even light can be born from the ashes.»

– It’s… hope,» she said, smiling through her tears. – The one that doesn’t wait for permission to be.

– It’s stronger than any prayer.» She is life itself, without asking if she can be.

The result of the month.

By the end of the second month, Alina no longer needed words to understand the world. She was reading:

• The wind is like a confession of the lost,

• Stones – as chronicles of perseverance and stubbornness,

• The river is like a song where pain turns into movement,

• Stars are like promises made before birth.

She understood the main thing: the world always speaks. It’s just that most people don’t know how to listen.

And the one who listens hears not only sounds, but also the memory, tears and breathing of others. This is the first step to healing even the Darkness.

3. The third month: Dialogue with the Shadow without fear.

At the dawn of the third month, the fog over the jungle of the Green World had not yet lifted. The trees whispered the last dreams of the night, the vines trembled under the invisible breath of time, and the air seemed dense, like memories in which thousands of stories were stuck. Vladimir the Long One led Alina into the depths of the Temple of Roots, where even the sounds stopped and time breathed more quietly than usual.

«Today you will not meet an enemy,» he said, his voice trembling like the rustle of ancient leaves, «you will meet what you are afraid to understand.»

They stopped in front of a mirror carved into the trunk of the oldest tree. The surface did not reflect the face. She throbbed like an open wound, a network of cracks and frozen tears, fragments of a forgotten memory. It was a Mirror of a Shattered Time – the one in front of which Knox first cried black tears, dropping his own lullaby on the world.

«It’s not just a mirror, – Vladimir explained quietly. It shows what happened in the morning. Something that the Darkness hides even from itself.

Alina froze. Doubt flashed in her galaxy-like eyes – not fear of the Dark, but fear of her own pain. The Chrono Shadow is not just a reflection of Knox. It’s her own echo, lost when her father sacrificed the world to save others.

«Don’t look at the reflection, – Vladimir said softly. «Look at what’s behind it.

Alina took a step closer.

A glance behind the mirror.

First – the darkness. Thick, silent, like ashes after a fire. Then there’s movement.

A boy appeared from the depths of the mirror. Skinny, barefoot, wearing a shirt too big for his shoulders. In his hands he held a flower made of light, woven from children’s laughter, first hopes, and pure faith in goodness. He was standing on the edge of the void. There wasn’t a soul around. Only the wind that carries his name to a place where there is no memory left.

«He’s afraid,» Alina whispered, «that no one will notice him.»

«Exactly, – Vladimir replied. «He doesn’t want power. He doesn’t want seats. All he wants is for someone to say: «I see you. You’re important.»

The boy looked up. Empty – not out of anger, but out of loneliness. The tears dried up long ago, leaving black spots, traces of pain that no one comforted.

– This is… Knox? Alina asked.

«No, – Vladimir said. – This is who he was before the world stopped listening. This is the Forgotten One.

Alina approached the mirror, put her palm on the cold surface.

– I see you, – she whispered. «You’re not alone.

The boy shuddered. The flower in his hands flashed brighter, and a spark flashed in his eyes – not of light, not of hope, but of the simplest sign of life: he was noticed.

A dialogue without words.

They didn’t talk. The conversation went on in silence, in breathing, in a stream of invisible threads.

The boy asked with his eyes:

«What if I no longer believe that I am worthy of being seen?

«Alina replied with her presence:

«Today I will stand here until you believe.»

She didn’t extend her hand. I didn’t try to get him out of the mirror. She just stayed by my side. And this is the whole point of the third month: the fear of Darkness is the fear of one’s own pain. But if you look into it without judgment, it ceases to be an enemy. She’s starting to learn.

Vladimir’s lesson.

When Alina moved away from the mirror, her eyes were wet – not from tears, but from the sand of time flowing out of her soul.

– Why didn’t you say earlier that Darkness is just a step that no one has embraced? «What is it?» she asked.

«Because you should have seen it for yourself,» Vladimir replied. – No words can replace a look in which there is no fear.

He put his hand on her shoulder.

«You didn’t defeat the Darkness today. You found out her name. And for now, you see her as a child, not a monster.… The darkness will not win.

Alina understood the main thing: healing does not begin with the destruction of evil. It begins with a confession: «I see you. You’re not mistaken. You are a pain that can be embraced.»

After the lesson.

In the evening, she returned to the Pulse Garden. She sat down under the tree that had grown the most since her father said: «I’m not a hero… but first I’m ready to go with you.»

She closed her eyes. And for the first time, she wasn’t afraid to hear the voice of the Chrono Shadow.

Now she knew that behind every shadow of the boy with the flower, someone was waiting. Someone will stop and say: «I’m here.»

Somewhere in the Black Abyss, Knox raised his head. Somewhere in the Mirror of the Destroyed Time, the boy smiled. And on the Aeternian Chrono-Heart, it was quietly pulsating – in the rhythm of two hearts that had stopped being afraid of each other.

4. The fourth month: The art of being around.

At the dawn of the fourth month, the fog over the jungle of the Green World had not yet lifted. It crept along the vines and branches like a translucent veil of memory, in which millions of unspoken words were stuck. The trees whispered the dreams of recent nights, and the air, thick with the invisible breath of time, seemed alive. Vladimir the Long-led Alina deeper into the Temple of Roots, to a place where even the vines fell silent and time slowed down, as if listening to her heart.

– You won’t be listening today,» he said, and his voice wasn’t a word, but the rustle of ancient leaves. – You will be present today.

They stopped on a circular platform of smooth stone, frozen like milk. There is a void in the center. There were no benches, no pillows, no campfire. Only earth and sky.

«It’s A Circle Without an Answer,» Vladimir explained. – Here the pain does not come for advice. Not for salvation. She comes for your presence.

– But… what should I do?» Alina whispered. Her galaxy-like eyes were trembling with anxiety, as if preparing to absorb all the worlds at once. – I can’t just sit and watch someone count!

«That’s exactly what you have to learn, – Vladimir said softly. – Pain doesn’t always ask for medicine. Sometimes she whispers, «Just sit with me. Don’t go away.»

The first test: Pain without a name.

Vladimir retreated into the shadows. A figure rose from the ground – not a man, not a beast, but the very essence of pain, devoid of a face. She didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. She just stood there, bent over, trembling like a candle flame fluttering in the wind of a forgotten memory.

«Come here, – Vladimir whispered. «Sit next to me.» Don’t say. Don’t offer to help. Just… be.

Alina stepped forward. Then another one. She knelt down. Then – to the ground. Next to the shadow.

Minute. Ten. Hour.

The shadow did not disappear. On the contrary, it has become denser. Alina felt: It’s not a View. It’s the pain of loneliness. The one that is born when you scream into the void – and no one answers.

She wanted to say, «I’m here,» «You’re not alone,» «I’ll help.»

But I remembered Vladimir’s words:

«Words are an attempt to control pain. And the pain doesn’t want to be manageable. She wants to be recognized.»

Alina was silent. I just sat there. She breathed in the same rhythm. I stared into the same void. Without judgment. Without fear. Without heroism.

And then the shadow… relaxed. She didn’t disappear. But for the first time in forever, I felt,

«Me. They are not afraid of me. They’re not rushing to fix me.»

The second test: Your own pain.

The next day, Vladimir brought Alina to the Mirror of Silence – not to the reflection of a face, but to the reflection of a soul hidden under layers of chronocode, masquerading as duty and a smile.

– Look, – he said. – Not on the face. At what you’re hiding.

Alina looked in and saw herself: not a heroine, not a Keeper of Hope, not the daughter of Chronos and Sandran… but a girl standing in the ashes of an erased world, with a stuffed dog in her hands and eyes full of the question:

«Why did Dad choose others and not me»?

It was her pain. Hidden, quiet, but alive – the one that always hid under a smile and duty.

«Now sit with her,» Vladimir said. – How I sat with the shadow. Don’t save me. Don’t fix it. Just… be close to yourself.

Alina sat down in front of the mirror. She put her palm on the cold glass. And she whispered with her heart:

«I’m here. You’re not alone.»

At that moment, the girl in the mirror smiled. And the world around Alina trembled slightly, as if the Green World itself breathed a sigh of relief.

The third test: The pain of the world.

In the last days of the month, Vladimir took Alina to the Pulse Garden, a place where trees grew out of frozen moments: the tree of the first kiss, the tree of the last «sorry», the tree that grew out of tears that no one comforted.

«Every tree is someone’s pain, – he said. – Approach anyone. Sit under it. Let yourself feel without trying to change.

Alina chose a tree with silver leaves and a crack in the trunk. Touching the bark, she felt a flash of memory: her mother dying in a fire war. A son shouting, «Mom!» A world that didn’t come to the rescue.

It was Knox’s pain. The one that gave birth to the Chrono Shadow.

Alina did not close her eyes. She didn’t turn away. I sat down under a tree. She hugged the trunk. And she whispered,

«I remember you. You’re not wrong. You are a pain that can be embraced.»

The branches whispered. The leaves rang like bells. And somewhere in the Black Abyss, Knox stopped crying for the first time in seven circles of time.

The result of the month.

On the last evening, Vladimir sat next to Alina at the «Circle Without an Answer».

– You thought you came here to learn how to save,» he said. «But you really came to learn to trust.»

«Trust what?» Alina asked.

– Trust that presence is already salvation. Silence is already a consolation. Being close is already love.

Alina looked at her hands. They weren’t shaking anymore.

«I understand now,» she said softly. – Heroism is not when you run to save. Heroism is when you stay, even if you can’t change anything.

«Exactly, – Vladimir smiled. – And this is the whole power of light.

5. Fifth month: Touch is like a tongue.

At the dawn of the fifth month, the fog over the jungle of the Green World had not yet lifted. It crept through the branches and vines like the breath of the earth itself, filled with the past and secret hopes. The trees whispered the dreams of recent nights, and every sound was like an unfinished thought. Vladimir Long took Alina to the Garden of the New Dialogue, a place where flowers did not grow and birds did not sing, but where every leaf, every stem, every stone kept the memory of touches that once healed and sometimes destroyed.

– Today you will learn not to speak,» he said, stopping by an ancient ficus tree with bark covered with cracks, like scars from unspoken words. – Today you will learn to touch.

«But doesn’t touching invade your personal space?» Alina asked, her galaxy – like eyes reflecting anxiety and doubt.

«Only if it’s selfish,» Vladimir replied. «Words can be learned, and hands speak more honestly than any speech. Touch is a feeling. It does not require permission, only consent.

He stretched out his palm to the ficus leaf – not grabbing it, not stroking it, but touching it, as if asking permission from the world itself.

«Start with him.»

Lesson one: touch in a way that does not doubt.

Alina carefully brought her fingers to the sheet. He was shaking. Not from the wind, but from fear. The leaf remembered how it was once picked without attention, without gratitude, just for the experience.

«Don’t be afraid,» she whispered, not with her lips, but with her palm. She didn’t push. I didn’t pull it. She was just there, like the shadow of the sun, like a breath on glass.

The leaf calmed down.

«You didn’t take it, – Vladimir said. «You asked me to be with you.» This is the first law of touch: not «I want to touch», but «do you allow me to be near»?

Lesson two: hold your hand so that you say, «You’re not alone.»

The next day, Vladimir brought Alina to the Bridge of Silent Hearts, a narrow path over a precipice where every step echoed with loneliness.

There, on the edge, sat an old man. Not from the flesh, but from memory. The spirit of one of Vladimir’s first followers, who could never forgive himself for abandoning a friend in need.

«Come here, – Vladimir said. «Hold his hand.» But not as a lifeguard. Like the one who says: «I know what it’s like to feel guilty. And yet I’m here.»

Alina sat down next to him. She put her hand on it, dry, trembling, and covered with wrinkles of remorse. She didn’t squeeze. She wasn’t attracted to the light. I just held it, like holding a cup of hot tea: so as not to burn, but so that the heat would reach.

The old man began to cry. Not with tears, but with ashes, if somewhere his guilt could finally fall and dissolve.

– Thank you, – he whispered. «You didn’t say, «Everything’s going to be okay.» You just said: «I’m with you.» And that’s… enough.

Lesson three: touching pain in a way that doesn’t hurt is a confession.

In the last week of the month, Vladimir brought Alina to the Cave of Unlived Tears, a place where pain did not scream, but remained silent because no one recognized it.

There was a crystal in the center of the cave, dim and cracked. It was the pain of the Chrono Shadow, the one that Alina was afraid to touch.

– Do you think the pain needs to be «fixed»? Vladimir asked. – no. It must be recognized. Like a child who cries not because he wants to be punished, but because he wants to be seen.

Alina came over. She didn’t reach out to «take away» the pain. She put her hand on the crystal, not from above, but from the side, as if hugging.

– I see you,“ she whispered in her heart. „You’re not wrong. You are a pain that no one has comforted. And I’m… not afraid of you.

The crystal cracked, but did not collapse. A spark burst from the cracks – not light, but hope.

«You didn’t hurt me, – Vladimir said. «You admitted it. And that’s the whole point of touching.

The result of the month.

By the end of the fifth month, Alina was no longer afraid to touch. She realized that touching is not an action. It’s a language.

A language that is spoken not with the lips, but with the heart. A language that does not argue, does not convince, does not save… He just says: «I’m here.»

One night, she went to the Mirror of Shattered Time and touched its surface – not to see Knox, but to tell him:

«I’m not afraid of your pain. I am ready to hold her in my arms – not as a burden, but as a trust.»

And somewhere in the Black Abyss, Knox began to cry black tears for the first time in seven circles of time. His pain was no longer alone.

6. Sixth month: Tears without shame.

At the dawn of the sixth month, the fog over the jungle of the Green World had not yet lifted. It crept through the branches and vines like the breath of the earth itself, soaked with forgotten hopes and unspoken secrets. The scent of damp earth mixed with the smell of tar and wet leaves, and each breath filled Alina’s lungs with a mixture of anxiety and foreboding. The trees whispered the dreams of recent nights, and every crack in the bark sounded like a quiet voice of forgotten pain. A light wind shook the vines, as if gently trying to comfort her.

Vladimir the Long-led Alina deep into the Temple of Roots, to a place where even the vines fell silent, and time breathed more slowly, listening to her heart.

«Today you will learn the most difficult thing,» he said softly, almost in a whisper that blended with the rustle of the leaves. – Don’t hold back. Not to forgive. Don’t be silent.

«What about it?» Alina whispered, her galaxy – like eyes trembling with anxiety and hidden fear.

«Cry.» Without shame. No excuses. Just… cry.

He brought her to the Lake Without Tears – not because they weren’t there, but because everyone who came here hid them. The water was clear, but cold – not from the temperature, but from loneliness, every unspeakable cry froze in it. Each drop held a tear that someone was holding back, afraid to let go.

– Crying is not a weakness, – Vladimir said, sitting down on the moss by the shore. – This is trust. Trust the world to accept your pain. Trust yourself that she won’t break you. And trusting others that they won’t turn away.

Alina lowered her gaze. She was crying, yes. But always in the shadows, in silence, when no one was looking. Because the daughter of Chronos and Sandran had no right to cry. She is the hope. Hope does not cry.

– I’m afraid,» she whispered, «that if I cry, the world will lose faith in me.»

«No,» Vladimir replied. «He will find faith in himself. Because she will see that even the one who brings the light… is still a human being.

Alina heard the whisper of the wind through the leaves, as if the jungle itself confirmed these words.: «You’re not alone… you can cry.»

The first cry: for myself.

He didn’t speak. He just sat down next to me and waited.

One hour. Two. Three.

Alina sat with her knees pressed together, looking into the water, where it reflected not her, but her fear:

«You’re a mistake. Your world was erased because it was weak. You only exist because your father chose others.»

And suddenly – a tear. Quiet as the first rain after a long drought. She rolled into the lake, and the water around her shone with warmth, as if taking her pain in her arms.

«It’s okay,» Vladimir said, not looking at her. – Crying for yourself is not selfish. This is a confession: «I’m living. And it hurts me.»

Alina didn’t stop. The tears came one after the other – not out of pity, but out of liberation. She was crying for:

• the child she no longer remembered – herself in the erased world;

• The mother who watched her daughter disappear from reality;

• The father who chose the universe… and lost his family;

• the self who still didn’t believe: her existence is already a miracle.

Each tear fell into the lake, and the lake sang as if resonating with the rhythm of her heart. The wind rustling through the leaves seemed to echo her inner release, and the moist scent of the jungle was woven into every breath, mixing pain with healing silence.

The second cry: for peace.

When the tears for himself had dried up, Vladimir led Alina to the Roots of the Temple, where trees from frozen moments grew: the tree of the first kiss, the tree of the last «I’m sorry», the tree that grew out of tears that no one comforted.

«Now don’t cry for yourself, – he said. «Cry for those who can’t.»

Alina touched the bark of a tree that had grown from Knox’s pain. And I saw:

• a boy planting a flower for a sick mother;

• a man who loses everything in a fire war;

A villain who steals time not out of greed, but out of desperation.

«He’s not a monster, – she whispered. – He is a pain that no one has embraced.

And the tears began to flow again. Not from grief, but from compassion, from deep, almost physical empathy.

Her tears fell on the roots of the Temple of Roots, nourishing them as if reviving frozen memories.

The wind suddenly picked up, as if the jungle itself had sighed with her, filling the space with the aromas of resin, damp earth and blooming moss, enveloping Alina with warmth and sadness at the same time.

The birth of the tree: «Hope for the Darkness.»

The next morning, Alina returned to the Temple and saw a miracle.

A tree grew out of the ground, where her tears fell. Not immediately. Not violently. Gradually. Assuredly. It grew, as if time itself had slowed down to witness the strength of her trust.

Its trunk was silver, as if carved from moonlight, visible on the frozen tears. The leaves are dark blue, almost black, but with streaks of light, as if history and memory lived in each leaf. Each one has a name on it.: Knox, Chrono-Shadow, The Forgotten One, those who whispered: «Tell me more…»

«This tree is not for the light, – Vladimir said, coming up from behind. «It’s for the Dark.» It tells her: «You’re not alone. Even if the whole world has turned away, hope grows here… for you.»

Alina came closer. She put her hand on the trunk.

«It’s throbbing,» she whispered. «Like a heart.»

«You see, – Vladimir smiled. «You didn’t just cry. You trusted me. And in this trust lies every power of light.

Lesson of the month.

By the end of the sixth month, Alina realized that

Tears are not weakness. It is the language of the soul when words are powerless.

Crying means admitting, «I’m alive. I still believe that you can stay with pain.»

And the one who cries for the other… is no longer a hero. He’s a house.

Somewhere in the Black Abyss, Knox finished crying black tears for the first time in seven circles of time. His pain was no longer alone.

On the Green World, the «Hope for Darkness» tree was quietly rustling its leaves, in the rhythm of a pulse that had not yet given up.

And the wind through the jungle seemed like soft laughter, tears combined with the breath of the world, and Alina was overwhelmed by the feeling that everything alive, even the Darkness, could accept her trust.