Grid crawled as instructed by Ismael all the way back to the university. Mid-way, he had lost too much of his blood and couldn't move forward. Though he pressed, out of sheer will, and screamed his body a few inches away, he lost consciousness in the middle of nowhere.
Grid opened his eyes on the couch, nearly passed out, his vision, now unblurred, sent him into a frenzy. He later explained to Influenza that he could not see that clearly beforehand. The colors, how vibrant they are, the sounds, how clear and soft they sound.
"I was dead, I'm pretty sure I was dead. Who brought me here?"
"Helios did."
"I thought they killed him?"
"Thought so too. But rest assured, we'll find a way."
"Where is everyone?"
"The student killed all of them I believe. Which means they are at the Structure. So not so far away. I need to warn them but I can't join Anaïs anywhere, nor Yael."
"They're in the cafeteria, eating. Something went wrong with both of them."
"How...do you know that?"
" don't know, actually, I...sensed them. They're witches, you know."
"That makes sense. I'll be right back".
"That ain't normal. It does not, in fact, make any sense at all. Considering Helios was beheaded and how above perfect his health is, my suggestion is that whatever was keeping Helios so strong and healthy for so many years is now present in Grid's body. That could potentially take away his identity. I'll have to be careful."
She knocks after seeing them in the circle-shaped windows of the doors.
"Ladies? Is everything all right?"
"We're fine", Yael replied, looking half-asleep. "Ismael sacrificed his brand of Yael on one hand. Kinda feels like losing a part of myself through him. As for Anaïs, well, what do you know, it's also about Ismael."
"He used another circle. By memory. Sure he spent an awful lot of time at the Structure, and given the amount of times he died, you'd think he saw the circle a million times, but still. All of the intrinsic details about it, i don't know how he did it. What's worse, he now has a further checkpoint than anybody else."
"Speaking of the others, I think all your friends are dead. Back at the Structure."
"Okay."
"Really? I was exepcting more."
"More of what?"
"Of a reaction."
"Look, baby. Magic has a price. Everytime someone dies, even if it is a normalcy, they will come back through the circle, which exhausts me for a second. So I know they died. I just don't care. I think I've done more than enough already."
"Fine, I...just wanted to check in."
"Got it."
"They're not just physically dispersed but also mentally. Gone one from another. All this is the result you could expect from killing Helios. He's not just strength, but so problematic that getting rid of him obviously generates problems."
At the Dead Zone, Ismael had his rifle on stand-by just in case.
"What is that?"
"Where I usually live. I know when someone is close by, I kill them."
"When does that even happen? I thought Helios wouldn't let anyone go through? Xekre the first ones here, right?"
"This century, yes."
"I see. So, this crooked wooden floor, that high up there, is your little home. I'll need some explanation to know what I need to prepare for."
"You're going to go in my home as a guest. And you will sleep on a bed."
"Sounds good."
"And you'll have nightmares. And in those nightmares, you'll have horrible things happening to you. But you'll have to remember it is a test. A test to see if you are worth it."
"Worth what?"
"Lucid nightmares to test your worth as Nephilim."
"But I'm not..."
"But you could be. That's why you're here, isn't it?"
"No, not at all, but let's face it, it would be amazing. I need to do this. If that's truly what it is for, I'll do it without a second thought. I just need to make sure of one thing first."
"I've killed Helios. Was he a Nephilim?"
"Nara made him drink his blood, turning him into one of us, yes. But his human blood was so strong that it assimilated it and conquered it. Nara enjoyed that plot twist as much as you would think, but he also thought it was unreal, impossible and quite disgusting. For a human to overcome his condition and nature by instinctively taking lifeforce from the very thing that could make him better in everything. By allowing himself to blatantly use it intead of becoming it."
"So I'm still clean. Right?"
"Clean. Yes. Very much so. You have a seat at the Three. It is on the fence, right now, if Efalis is still among them. And Loovis died, killed by Yael. Now, Anaïs has tested you and you will remain a potential. Yet, considering what happened, you probably won't make it back to her. So being a Nephilim is what's going to make you lose humanity to become something better. Something greater."
"Take me there, then."
The Bringer grabbed Ismael and introduced him to his den. Upon seeing the bed he would be sleeping on, he could not stop himself from spewing a joke.
"This is by far the most luxurious bed I've ever seen in my entire fucking life."
"Just lay down, please."
"Fine, fine."
The Bringer had dragged a chair on the floor to sit in front of him.
"Here it is. The penultimate destination. You will fall asleep and have a nightmare where you will be able to move around and think freely as you do now. But you'll have to solve a riddle in some way. As long as you can't find the answer, you'll remain in the dream."
"And if I never wake up?"
"Then you were never worth it in the first place. So have at it, have a good night, Ismael."
"See you in five minutes."