At home, I took a shower and searched for the place where I was meeting Maia.
I saw it was abandoned, but I felt calm, because I trusted her.
I headed there.
The closer I got, the darker the street became.
When I got out of the car, the stench of rot invaded my nostrils, chemical waste scattered through the area.
I coughed in the freezing air.
I stood beside the vehicle.
The headlights lit that darkness.
My fingers moved restlessly.
It was my first time so close to the ground.
The deserted place was on the same level as Netheria.
Netheria resisted.
But that part?
A forgotten region of São Paulo.
The city floor, nearly uninhabitable, neglected by the Aether Network, Sessota, UNITED, and Kokusai.
Only the vertical structures mattered, the floating spaces.
And what remained on the ground?
Shadows. Papers. Junk scattered around. Ruined streets. Not a living soul.
Only emptiness.
High above, lights shimmered in suspended buildings, like artificial stars, unreachable to anyone stepping on the forgotten ground.
Where are you?
I rubbed my hands.
"Hey."
My body stiffened.
I shivered at the touch on my shoulder.
"Did I keep you waiting long?"
The light reflected a smiling Maia.
"No."
I smiled back.
"But this place is kind of unpleasant."
"Sorry about that."
She laughed in a cute way and held out her hand.
"It's okay. I'm more perceptive in the Witch."
Maia gently squeezed my touch.
"I'm also… also in the Witch.
We're attuned."
My heart smiled radiantly.
We walked to a long staircase leading toward the old Paulista.
Old lampposts.
Empty stores.
Flickering neon signs.
Drizzle.
Damp air.
A grim setting.
But none of that mattered.
All I saw was Maia guiding me.
To who knew where.
And that was exactly where I wanted to be.
We reached an intersection.
As we turned the corner, my jaw dropped.
The remote and imposing São Paulo Museum of Art, now in ruins.
A museum that had once held the most important art collection in America, now completely abandoned.
Debris covered the span of more than seventy meters.
Four enormous reddish pillars held it up.
Vines and grime dominated everything, reaching the vandalized entrance.
The huge hole.
The destroyed metal staircase.
Little light filtered in.
Thanks to Maia guiding me, I avoided tripping.
She went around the wreckage, climbing with impressive agility up to the hole.
When she reached it, she lay down and lowered her hands.
"Come on."
Her hair fell over her face.
Her outstretched hand.
Maia was waiting for me.
I understood what she wanted, except my physical endurance was terrible.
I regretted stopping yoga.
Maybe I'd start again to keep up with her rhythm.
Who knew?
"Are you sure?"
My fear was obvious.
Maia laughed and nodded.
I sighed.
I walked over the wet debris.
When I got close, she pulled me up.
We crouched at the edge of the hole.
Oh, my heart.
If I fell, I'd hurt my whole body.
"Let's go in."
Before I could react, she jumped to the floor below.
THUD!
The impact echoed.
My eyes widened.
I stuck my head through the opening and looked down.
"You can jump."
Jump?
What?
She thought I could jump?
Ah, that was too much.
If I jumped wrong, I'd break my legs.
I mean… maybe I was exaggerating.
Am I really going to do this?
I took a deep breath.
I held onto the window frame and slowly pushed one foot inside.
Maia opened her arms.
"Do you trust me?
I'll catch you."
That was what I needed to hear.
It was enough.
The wind cut my skin.
The abyss stared back at me.
But when I looked at Maia, everything went quiet.
I jumped.
The icy zephyr brushed my face and hair.
Maia's arms wrapped around me.
I opened my eyes.
Face to face with her.
Her honey eyes glowed under the weak light.
She smiled, playful, and set me down.
"See?"
I lowered my eyes.
"Conceited."
"Why?"
"Mm… you're just very confident."
"Trust me.
I'll always catch you.
I'll always be here."
She hugged me and rested her chin on my head.
My heart raced.
My cheeks warmed.
It was a unique feeling, being in such a comforting and safe embrace.
I wanted to eternalize myself there.
I could live inside her arms.
Maia pulled away.
"Do you know what happened here?"
I glimpsed a few things in the darkness.
The smell of rain, dust, and alcohol was actually pleasant.
"I know they transferred almost all the items to another museum between Zenith and Centrália."
I followed her, trying to focus on my steps.
"It's somewhere around here," she whispered to herself.
"Ah, found it."
Tzzt Tzzt
Two clicks.
Fast. Dry.
The sound reverberated.
Everything lit up, and I saw:
a pavilion, galleries in disorder, the collapsed ceiling, debris hiding the artworks.
Holograms in place of paintings.
Violet. Pink. Purple. Blue lights.
They contrasted with destruction, ruins, cycles of vandalism and weather.
Broken glass crackled beneath my feet.
Decades of dust mixed with the damp smell of decay.
How much history was forgotten here?
How many works had passed through these walls?
How many gazes had met or hidden in the dark?
Maia led me to the central staircase.
From that height, I contemplated the place, fascinated.
Absorbed every detail.
"The beauty of this place is chaos."
Her eyes fell on me.
I looked at her with affection.
She smiled.
Such a warm smile.
A beat escaped my heart.
She allowed me to glimpse a part of her soul.
All I know about that moment is that that warm smile carried an intrinsic sadness.
I wanted to cry.
I saw so much pain inside her.
I hugged her.
Even unable to tear that pain away, I wanted to replace it.
Please, let me care for you.
I tightened the hug.
Maia stroked my hair.
"Come on, it's going to happen soon."
I frowned, intrigued.
We walked through the labyrinth to the top and climbed a staircase.
Maia pulled open an old metal door.
We stepped onto the rooftop, which had two enormous yellowed water tanks.
More debris.
She sat on the floor.
I nestled beside her.
"What's going to happen?"
Maia motioned toward the sky.
"Keep looking."
I rubbed my frozen nose.
"You know, the research moved on to the next phase, so new samples are no longer needed.
The doctor asked me to thank you.
If everything works out, you'll help a lot of people."
She gave a discreet smile.
"That's good."
I looked at the firmament.
Dense clouds. Pollution.
Then, slowly, the impossible happened.
A glimpse of Declaria.
The silver light of the waning quarter moon fell over us.
Maia's eyes shone.
Her white hair gleamed beneath the argent shimmer.
The icy breeze caressed her strands and face.
Droplets of water settled gently on her skin.
Her admiring gaze, her posture leaning toward infinity, her parted lips in a mix of passion and fascination.
Maia's wild beauty intensified.
My chest tightened.
Time dissolved around us, as if only the two of us existed beneath that silver light.
And then, I realized how much I loved her.
How deeply I had fallen in love with her chaos.
With everything.
Every part that made her herself.
"Maia…" I whispered, shocked.
"Y-your nose is bleeding."
She took a moment to react.
She wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
"Mm… sometimes that happens."
She wiped it again.
The blood kept dripping, relentless.
I handed her a tissue.
My heart leapt.
Something inside me screamed that it was abnormal.
Maia pressed it to the bleeding nostril and tilted her head up.
Clouds veiled the celestial dome.
The moon disappeared.
"I feel like…"
Her voice came out strange because of the blocked nose.
"You've known me forever.
Far beyond this life."
When her gaze crossed the particles of my physical body, it was as if something inside me vibrated in recognition, reaching the depths of my soul.
It struck me on a cosmic level.
Her words awakened my atoms from a dormancy, one that had lasted through all those cycles.
Thoughts quieted.
I only felt.
I brought my face closer to hers.
"I-I feel the same…
But what is this?
What does it mean?"
I pressed my forehead to hers.
Tell me, please.
Once again, only silence.
I caressed her face.
Her hand over mine.
In that moment, I realized something was wrong, terribly wrong.
A feeling I should have paid more attention to.
I felt a tightness in my chest, as if something were tearing apart.
Something irreparable.
I should have listened to my intuition.
I don't know, maybe insisted more.
Persisted until I got an answer.
Because, who knows, if I had…