Nerea appeared in front of the sorceress's house at the break of the next day, which was gloomier than usual. She flew just outside the door where she transformed to knock, but she didn't need to: Mirla came out before she could touch it. "You're here, again."
"Are they safe?" the fillian asked apprehensively.
"Of course, why not… now I'll clap my hands and make them appear in the living room of their home!" the sorceress's sarcasm was evident. "I've already explained to you that I don't perform miracles."
"I understand, but can we find a way?"
"First of all, turn back into an insect, otherwise the cod will lose his eyes as soon as he sees you."
Nerea transformed even though she hadn't grasped the connection of what the sorceress meant.
"You are a fillian, be careful how you move," Mirla tilted her head and looked at her seriously. "If he discovers you…"
"I know, but I feel like I'm doing the right thing."
"As you wish."
Meanwhile, as the two talked, Camelia watched them from the elliptical window of the small cylindrical house. Egan was snooping around the sorceress's laboratory. He didn't touch anything but he saw strange ingredients and half-filled vials with liquids of various colors. "Egan."
He turned towards her.
"Thank you," the blonde smiled.
"For what?"
"Without you, I would still be in that prison, probably dead by now."
"I don't think you would have let yourself go until the end," the young man shrugged. "Besides, someone helped me and I, by chance, helped you."
"Good deeds chase each other," Camelia approached the door. "I think it's time to go."
He extended his hand to her and she took it. "We'll go together."
Camelia smiled and at that moment the door opened. "Nerea will accompany you to a safe place until we figure out how to get you home," Mirla said immediately. Then, the sorceress approached her laboratory and took a brown vial—it was as big as a perfume bottle. She handed it to Egan. "This is a mixture that can be used only once. When it explodes, it releases a powder that disturbs the demon, by temporarily suppressing his powers. It's a recent experiment of mine. It might prove useful."
"Wait a moment, Lady Mirla," Egan rummaged inside his pants and removed the stone from behind the elastic of his boxers. The sorceress's eyes focused on the object. "Can you tell us if this can be used as a weapon for-"
"With that, you can open a portal! Don't dare discharge it!" Mirla snatched it from his fingers with a quick gesture.
"And how do you open a portal with it?" the human asked.
"You think ardently of your home and throw it far away. Like a shooting star, it will open the portal where it lands," the sorceress explained, raising the stone against the light. "It's rare to see one so powerful. How did you get it?"
Egan clenched his teeth. "A friend sacrificed himself for me."
Nerea listened and her heart raced in her chest; friendship must be something truly unique.
"A gill, your friend?" Mirla muttered something under her breath. "No matter, go! Use the stone when it's night and don't come back!"
"Thank you, Mirla," Camelia said to her, nodding her head in reverence, then, holding Egan's hand, she followed Nerea.
Noxfor had materialized close to the Gorb river, Mirla's dwelling was nearby.
"Brother, I need to speak with you urgently, come to the Upper World."
"Florius?"
"Yes, hurry. I'll wait for you where you know."
The voice in the demon's mind disappeared, and he cursed his half-brother who had chosen a terrible moment. One of his hunters had informed him that there had been unusual movement in that area—the sorceress and the fillian had met often without their master knowing. But they had been seen.
Annoyed, the demon opened a door in the void and crossed it to go to Earth, otherwise known as the Upper World.
Nerea flew, slowing her speed to facilitate the pace of the two humans, and the more she looked at them, the more they appeared different. Closer than she had seen them the last time. They held hands and exchanged glances in a way that the creature herself would have liked to be looked at by someone. That wasn't possession or domination, like what she read in the demon's yellow eyes, every time she was called to serve him.
"Nerea, where are we going?" Camelia had noticed the insect stopping and turning more than once.
"I'm not lost, don't worry."
Egan shifted his eyes to the creature and then to the blonde. "I'm not a seer but, our little friend seems a bit down. Her voice isn't as lively as last time," he murmured.
Camelia patted his hand to stop him from speaking further. "Nerea, have you ever fallen in love?" she now knew that fillians didn't know love, but she wanted to give her a reason to believe in something else besides the impositions instilled by the demon.
"What does it mean to fall in love?" Nerea slowed down again and flew beside the seer.
"When you feel love for someone. Friendship is a form of love. But the absolute love meant when we talk about falling in love, manifests between two creatures in a much stronger way."
"How does it manifest?" the fillian seemed very curious.
"It manifests in the most unexpected ways," Camelia briefly shifted her amber eyes to Egan, who seemed to be distracted by the vegetation or pretending to be distracted. "But it's the heart that truly makes you recognize it."
"Love…" the creature whispered, doubtful. It was another of those words that sounded good when pronounced, but she had never heard of it before. "There are such different magics in your world…"
"Nah, love is much more than magic," said Egan, and if his roommates had ever heard him utter such sappy phrases, they would have mocked him for life. "When you say I love you to someone, and you really mean it, your stomach flips, your heart skips a beat, and your cheeks boil."
"What a frightening and painful thing!" exclaimed Nerea, scared by the images she was visualizing in her mind.
Camelia laughed. "It's a way of saying, it doesn't really happen! They are such strong sensations that they reflect throughout the body, but they are pleasant."
The insect remained silent, processing what she had learned.
In the late morning, trees with silver trunks appeared in front of them. The floral scent that hovered in the vegetation weakened until it disappeared when they set foot on a wide beach with sandy blue powders that covered the entire coastline. The gray sky was disfigured and became almost invisible in contrast to the brightness of that shore. The pale and opaque water didn't sparkle and gave the appearance of being in an amorphous layer that hid many secrets in its depths. Slender birds with enormous black wings flew high. The white, jagged, and vivid cliffs finally gave a touch of concreteness to that surreal vision. The sand was very fine, almost as if it were flour freshly ground from the mill. Camelia was surprised by that beauty and couldn't resist taking off the shoes Mirla had given her. The sand was soft and welcoming.
"Enchanting," Egan whispered with his hands on his hips as he watched the horizon. He bent down and picked up a handful of that blue sand, let it fly into the air, and watched it vanish like sparkling dust.
"This is not where we need to stop," Nerea flew further along the curve of the beach and then reached an inlet. "We need to continue a little further."
The inlet was adorned with a wide carpet of sediments that extended towards a hidden cave. It was completely concealed from the outside, and one could access it only by knowing the exact location of its entrance. Nerea flew slowly, always careful not to lose the two distracted humans who followed her, exploring a bit too much. "Keep up, it's dangerous to get lost here. You're exposed and it's hard to find shelter from the night tides."
"Is this place patrolled by the demon's guards?" Egan asked, having grabbed again Camelia's hand and holding it tightly in his.
"The master's servants reach every recess of this world, but they rarely come here to patrol. For the times I've been here to seek quiet, I've never seen anything unusual. However, I fear the moment when the master realizes your disappearance and then he will unleash his squad of generals."
"How many are there?" Egan accelerated, pulling Camelia along, who, thoughtful, wasn't participating in the conversation.
"Six," and when the cave prevented the light from penetrating further, Nerea stopped. "I must leave you here, the master could call me at any moment and, as fast as I am, reaching him from this place is no small feat," the fillian waited a few seconds, giving them time to ask her a question, if there was one.
"Thank you, dear friend," Camelia smiled, even if Nerea couldn't reciprocate in that form—she remained hovering in flight, in front of her. "You have been precious, and I must tell you something," the seer became serious and fixed her gaze on the small indigo-colored insect. "In your very near future, there will be someone you will love like no one else in your entire existence. The other half of your spirit."
Nerea perched on a rocky protrusion. The small head of the indigo-colored insect stared at her, motionless.
"I saw it clearly, have faith."
"Thank you, seer," Nerea lifted her head. "Thank you too, Egan," then she flew away, on the way back.