FRAGMENTS OF TRUST

The scroll in Asimil's pocket felt like a chunk of ice, emanating a chill that spread through his veins and froze his heart. Receptacle. Catastrophic threat. Observation priority: maximum. The words whirled around in his head, poisoning every thought, every memory.

He isolated himself. He sat at the farthest table in the clan tavern, watching his friends from a distance. He could see Ikel laughing out loud at one of his own jokes, Noelia rolling her eyes with an almost imperceptible smile, Sacres watching them all with his usual calm. But he no longer saw them as his friends. He saw them as his guardians. His jailers.

Sacres was the first to notice his isolation. He approached, his imposing figure casting a long shadow on the table. — Asimil, are you all right? - He asked, his deep voice tinged with genuine concern - You look like a ghost. —

Asimil looked up. He looked into his mentor's patient gray eyes and could only see watchfulness. Is he really worried? he thought, an icy bitterness forming inside him. Or is he just watching the "receptacle"? Every advice, every lesson... Was it to train me or to control me?

— I'm fine — he answered, his voice was flat, empty. He got up and walked away without another word, leaving Sacres with an expression of deep confusion.

Later, Ikel found him in the training yard.

Asimil pulled away abruptly, as if the contact burned him. — Leave me alone, Ikel. —

Ikel's smile faded. — What's the matter with you? I just wanted to... —

— I'm in no mood for your games! — Asimil blurted out, his voice sharper than he intended. Is your friendship real? he wondered, the poison of doubt gnawing at him. Or were you just ordered to befriend me to keep me happy and watched? Am I your friend... or your mission?

He left, leaving Ikel standing in the middle of the courtyard with a pained and bewildered expression on his face. The easy and genuine friendship they had forged had been shattered with a few cruel words.

The final confrontation was inevitable. Sacres and Ikel, worried and not understanding his behavior, looked for Noelia. The three of them found him in his room. She was putting her few belongings in a bag. He was about to leave.

— Assimil, what the hell are you doing? — Ikel asked, his voice a mixture of anger and hurt.

Asimil turned, and in his trembling hand he held the parchment. He threw it on the bed.

— I was about to leave without having to put up with any more of his lies. —

The confirmation was like a punch in the stomach. So it was true. It was all a sham.

Noelia stepped forward, her face pale, her hands outstretched in a gesture of supplication.
— Asimil, listen to me. It's not what you think. Yes, they told us, but it doesn't change anything. You're still you. You're not a monster. We were afraid of how you would react... —

Asimil's laughter was a dry, broken sound. - Don't touch me! - He shouted as she tried to get closer — Afraid of how she would react? Or afraid that her "time bomb" would get out of control? —

His gaze, filled with immense pain and betrayal, was fixed on Noelia. She was the one who hurt him the most. The hug, the lullaby, the silent promise by the lake....

— How long have you known? — he hissed. — Every kind word? Every moment...? Was it all a lie to keep an eye on the specimen? You made me believe...you made me feel like I belonged somewhere at last. — Tears burned in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. — I hate you, Noelia. I hate you for making me believe it was real. —

The word hate hit Noelia like a slap in the face. She recoiled, her own face full of pain. — Asimil, no... —

He didn't listen to her. He pushed Ikel out of the way and ran out of the room, running away from their faces, from their lies, from everything.

He ran through the corridors of the clan and out into the central square of the citadel. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to escape.

And then, the world stopped.

The bustle of the square died down. The wind ceased. All the players and adventurers froze, their gazes rising skyward. Asimil, in the midst of his flight, also stopped and looked up.

The violet sky of the Altverse was opening. Not violently, but with a terrifying calm. From the dimensional rift, a rock-sized green-colored gem slowly descended, pulsing with an emerald light that was both beautiful and deeply unsettling.

The gem stopped just above the center of the citadel. And then, it emitted a light.

It was not an explosion. It was a wave. A wave of pure, green energy that expanded in all directions, silent and overwhelming. It did not destroy; it seemed to... rewrite.

Asimil saw Noelia run out of the clan, her face a mask of horror as she saw the gem in the sky. The wave of light was coming towards her.

And in that instant, the betrayal, the hatred, the pain... all vanished. Only one instinct remained, the purest and most fundamental instinct he now possessed: to protect her.

Forgetting his own flight, he turned and ran towards her, shouting her name. His intention was madness, to interpose himself, to use his own body, his flames, whatever, to protect her from that unknown light.

But to no avail.

The light was not a physical force that could be blocked. It passed through him without resistance, enveloping him, Noelia, Ikel, Sacres and the entire citadel in its emerald glow. The last thing Asimil saw before his vision was completely filled with that blinding green was Noelia's terrified face. His attempt to protect her, his last instinctive act, had been futile.