Jeremy Chapi
Since we had boarded the plane, Natali and President Atlas had done little but explain what would come next and the political consequences that would inevitably follow. As for me, I longed for only one thing: to rest, find a quiet corner, and finally catch my breath.
Honestly, I doubted I would ever grow accustomed to standing before such enormous crowds. Yet before long, I would have to do it all over again, presenting the remedy before medical assemblies from every corner of the world.
My thoughts drifted back to Pavel's final words before my departure. I had deliberately pushed them aside so I could remain focused on the meeting with the world's leaders, but now that the pressure had eased, they resurfaced one after another.
I knew I had to prepare myself—not only to meet the expectations placed upon my shoulders, but also to fulfill the promise I had made to Elowen, who had stood beside me throughout the creation of the remedy.
We arrived in Atlantis beneath a sun hanging high in the sky, yet an unexpected, biting chill crept down the back of my neck. Every muscle in my body ached from the journey, and my injured arm refused to let me forget its presence. A dull, relentless pain gnawed at me, demanding my attention with every step.
As I descended the aircraft stairs behind President Atlas and Natali, a line of soldiers stood at attention, saluting the return of their leader with flawless discipline.
On the airport tarmac, Daniel and Seraphina were already waiting for us. The dark circles beneath their eyes betrayed far too many sleepless nights. After greeting President Atlas, they turned toward me with warm congratulations before inviting us to see the project they had been developing alongside my daughter.
They led us to a hangar set apart from the underground complex. I invited Natali and President Atlas to come with us and discover the project we had been working on.
The hangar dwarfed my usual workshop. It was so vast that two large aircraft could have fit inside with room to spare. I stepped through one of the entrance doors. Darkness still filled the enormous space until, without warning, the lights flickered to life.
A colossal machine gradually emerged from the shadows, stretching nearly five stories high. At its center stood a gigantic Celestial Ring, forged from countless materials whose metallic surfaces shimmered with different hues. Four massive yellow robotic arms, firmly anchored to the building's framework, held it upright. Two medium-sized rings rested on their respective supports, while a third platform stood empty, silently awaiting the ring we had used during the international demonstration. Thick electrical cables ran throughout the structure like the strands of a frozen metallic web.
A moment later, I spotted my daughter approaching aboard her mobile unit, topped with a display screen and equipped with two robotic arms. Her image appeared on the screen, dressed in a mechanic's uniform.
Seeing her again—even after a separation as brief as the flight home—tightened my chest.
"Welcome back, Dad," she said, her face lighting up with a smile I could have admired forever.
I reached out toward one of her mechanical arms as she offered it to me and took hold of it without hesitation.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
Turning to Daniel and Seraphina, I smiled.
"I see you've both been keeping busy."
"Your daughter didn't give us a single moment to catch our breath. She was determined to have everything ready before you came back," Daniel replied with a grin, while Seraphina nodded in agreement.
"You're exaggerating," Iris protested, clearly embarrassed.
"I'm terribly sorry for everything my daughter put you through," I added with a slight bow.
That only made Iris blush even more, prompting Daniel and Seraphina to burst into laughter. Nearby, Natali and President Atlas watched the exchange with quiet amusement.
A few moments later, an elevator carried us to an upper level overlooking the main structure. From there, we had a commanding view of the two Celestial Rings, Victor and Jules, as well as an empty platform connected to a tangled network of heavy electrical cables.
The floor resembled a control room. Two side consoles flanked a central workstation identical to the one I used in my own workshop. The reinforced, lightly tinted windows subtly dimmed the view of the hangar below.
I walked over to the central console before turning to Seraphina.
"Is it operational?"
"Since the last incident involving the Celestial Rings, we've decided not to build another one for the time being," she replied. "But every system is fully operational."
Daniel activated one of the control stations.
Slowly, the Ring began to move along the massive robotic arms supporting it, as though it were awakening from a long slumber.
I turned toward President Atlas.
"Mr. President... would you like to see how we create a Celestial Ring?"
A spark of curiosity crossed Atlas's face as he stepped forward.
"With pleasure," he replied. "I must admit... I've been eager to witness it with my own eyes."
The Celestial Ring used during the international demonstration was carefully positioned on the empty platform.
I removed my jacket and laid it over the back of a nearby chair, allowing myself greater freedom of movement before taking my place at the controls. My hands closed firmly around the grips while my feet locked into the support braces. Nearby, Seraphina and Daniel monitored the system's readings, while Iris remained beside Natali and President Atlas.
"Very well," I said, addressing everyone gathered in the control room. "Let's begin."
"Activating the magnetic suspension system," Seraphina announced.
A deep electrical hum echoed throughout the hangar, vibrating through the very walls of the control room. One by one, the massive robotic arms released their hold, leaving the Ring suspended effortlessly in midair by magnetic force alone.
Using the stabilization fields, I gradually set the Ring into motion.
Faster...
And faster still...
Until the countless metallic hues that composed its structure merged into a single, radiant light.
I drew a slow breath.
"I, Jeremy Chapi, Dreamwalker, call out to the echoes of another age.
Wandering souls...
Fragments of a light long extinguished...
You who still drift upon the breath of this world...
Hear my call."
The vibration reached the controls beneath my hands as the Ring slowly began to glow with the color of molten metal.
This was the decisive moment.
I had to establish the connection.
"...Who are you?"
A woman's voice echoed through the silence.
"Everything feels so... distant.
It is as though I had been sleeping peacefully."
Her voice was gentle...
Yet wrapped in mystery.
"Spirit bound to oblivion...
Shadow scattered across the remnants of time...
I am the Dreamwalker.
Grant us a fragment of your essence.
Embrace this eternal circle...
And let your soul transcend the flesh."
My role was to open the passage...
To invite her back...
To lead her once more into our world.
"I understand...
You seek my help.
But is this world truly worthy of it?
After every battle I fought...
After the liberation of Orléans...
After everything I sacrificed...
The only reward I received was the flames of the stake.
Tell me...
How will your fate be any different from mine?"
The voice rising from the abyss carried an immeasurable sorrow.
In that instant, I recognized the soul standing before me.
I tightened my grip on the controls, struggling to preserve the connection as the Celestial Ring blazed into a brilliant orange. My entire body felt as though invisible forces were pulling it apart in every direction, while the growing radiance became almost impossible to endure.
"You who have walked through both the abyss and the light...
You who united the Franks...
You whom history remembers as the Maid of Orléans...
I beg you...
Believe in me.
Open the gate.
Cross the Celestial Ring...
And become the light that shatters the darkness."
I knew what had to be done.
She had to become one with the Ring.
A soul whose legacy had shaped history itself deserved a place within this project.
"I see it within you...
That same fire that once burned inside me.
The fire that drove me to charge into battle, sword raised high, surrounded by my soldiers.
At their side...
I believed myself invincible.
Nothing seemed beyond my reach."
Her voice fell silent.
Not in hesitation...
But beneath the weight of sorrow.
Meanwhile, the controls pulled harder against my hands, forcing me forward as I struggled to maintain the connection.
"But you...
You will meet the same fate as we did.
You will taste that intoxicating certainty...
The belief that nothing is beyond your grasp.
And then...
You will descend into the darkness...
Into the cruelty...
Into the barbarity of this world.
Your future...
Your very destiny...
Will one day pierce your heart."
Her words slipped into my mind like a funeral hymn, sending an icy shiver crawling down my spine.
Yet beneath their sorrow...
I sensed something else.
A faint glimmer of hope.
"...And yet," she whispered at last, her voice softened by an unexpected tenderness.
"I want to see it.
I want to know how far you will go.
Tell me...
Can you walk farther than I ever did?"
I stood frozen, my breath caught in my throat.
Her words echoed within me, sounding at once like a prophecy... and a challenge to my very soul.
Without warning, a blinding light of almost supernatural intensity flooded the hangar.
It was as though the sun itself had descended upon us, its radiance pouring into every corner until even the air seemed to burn.
My hands tightened instinctively around the controls, desperately searching for something to anchor myself against.
A wave of heat surged through the room, accompanied by a deep, resonating hum that vibrated inside my skull. Even the reinforced windows of the control room could no longer shield us from the overwhelming brilliance.
I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart pounding against my ribs.
Then...
Everything gave way.
The resistance vanished from the controls, as though an unseen force had gently released them.
My breath caught once more.
A soothing warmth settled across my back...
Soft.
Gentle.
Almost like an embrace.
Instinctively, I turned, trying to make out a presence through the lingering light.
There was no one.
My pulse quickened.
Was it an illusion...?
A hallucination...?
Little by little, the radiance faded, and silence reclaimed the control room.
Before me, the Celestial Ring now shone with a pure, tranquil white light, as though it had finally found peace.
I released the controls, my hands still numb from the strain.
A heavy silence settled over the room.
Only then did I realize that every eye was fixed on me.
"Father... your arm!"
Iris's voice broke the silence.
I looked down.
Dark stains of blood had begun to soak through my shirt. Pulling back my sleeve, I saw that the bandages protecting my wound had split open.
"Natali described what happens during the process," President Atlas murmured, his gaze shifting between the Ring and me. "But witnessing it with one's own eyes is something else entirely."
"Everything appears stable," Daniel reported, his attention still fixed on the monitors. "We can connect it to the power grid immediately."
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Seraphina.
She had gone completely pale.
Whatever she had witnessed had shaken her deeply.
Natali walked over, already unfolding a clean handkerchief.
"I told you to take proper care of that wound after the last time," she said sternly.
"If only it were that simple," I replied with a weary smile as I pressed the cloth against the wound, now throbbing far more painfully than before.
"How much power does this Ring generate?" Atlas asked as he stepped closer to the observation window, his eyes fixed on the luminous structure.
"It should be enough to supply energy to an entire continent," I explained. "Although the materials required to build it are extremely costly, it remains far more efficient than any existing source of energy."
"That's considerably more than my country would ever need," he replied with a faint smile.
I took a deep breath.
"I have a favor to ask."
"What is it?"
"I'd like to keep this one."
Natali frowned.
"Don't you think you're asking for a bit much after everything we've already given you?" she said bluntly.
Atlas raised a hand, gently signaling for her to stop.
"That's certainly an unusual request, Jeremy," he said calmly. "But I'd like to understand why this particular Ring matters so much to you."
I searched for the right words.
"This Ring is more than a source of energy to me. It's the first one of this scale I've ever succeeded in creating... and it holds a special place in my heart."
I paused before continuing.
"I give you my word that I'll build another one, designed specifically for Atlantis."
A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead.
Atlas studied me in silence for several long moments.
"Your explanation isn't especially convincing," he admitted, "but it is honest."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"Very well. I'll grant your request. But consider it another debt you owe me."
He looked me straight in the eyes.
"And afterward... you and I are going to have a private conversation."
Relief washed over me.
"Thank you for your understanding. I promise I'll repay everything I owe as soon as I can."
Atlas stepped forward and rested a firm hand on my shoulder.
"No more bows between us."
He extended his hand.
"A handshake will do."
His expression softened.
"Today, you've given me far more than a demonstration."
"You've shown me a vision of the future."
I shook his hand.
"Thank you."
"With Joan of Arc, creating future Celestial Rings will become much easier."
"Joan of Arc?" Atlas repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"I've gotten into the habit of giving them names," I replied with an embarrassed smile.
At that very moment, we saw Seraphina hurry out of the control room.
Her face had turned even paler than before.