Chapter 3 S2

Concentrating on his cufflinks, Niris frowned as he tried to force his badly awakened mind to focus on the finger gymnastics. Each time the button was almost inserted in the slot of his buttonhole, he slid it to escape to one side or the other. 

Losing patience, he heaved an exasperated sigh before resuming the exercise for the umpteenth time when a hand interrupted him. Grabbing the rebellious button with confidence, she slipped it into the buttonhole and smoothed the fabric once it was done. Niris looked up gratefully at her saviour. His face lit up immediately. Before him stood his childhood friend, whom he hadn't seen for over a year because their mutual occupations kept them away from each other. 

-Jibaru!" exclaimed the little prince. 

His friend returned his smile with the same enthusiasm. His black and white hair, falling straight over his shoulders, swayed slightly as he bent his head and his almond-shaped eyes crinkled, giving him the look Niris had always known him for, warm despite a natural coldness, like snow melting in the first rays of the sun. 

Nice to see you again, Niris! It's been a long time," said the angel with the two-tone hair. 

Unable to bear it any longer, Niris threw her arms around his neck and embraced him in a brotherly hug. Jibaru made no protest and let himself be embraced. A few years older than the Prince of Egea, he had spent all his youth with this little creature who seemed so fragile. If he had been annoyed by his weakness and his persistence in wanting to follow him everywhere when he was little, he now had a deep respect for the one who had become his closest confidant. 

They separated after a few minutes and watched each other in silence, savouring their reunion. 

-You haven't changed a bit," Niris finally said with a big smile. 

The adviser smirked before answering. 

-Neither have you, apart from a few more wrinkles and a few white hairs here and there...

He stopped, his breath taken away by the backhand he received from the Prince. The prince looked at him warily. 

-As uncritical as ever, I see," muttered the poor victim, who was holding his ribs with exaggeration. 

-And you're still as foul-mouthed as ever," said the angel with one of those backward glances he was so good at. 

It was at times like these that his cuddly prince side resurfaced without warning. Jibaru smiled inwardly. He knew the prince like the back of his hand and knew how to make him react at a moment's notice. He trotted over to him as he was about to leave the room after checking his appearance one last time in the large full-length mirror that hung in his living room. 

-How are you feeling?" asked the adviser. 

-Weak," admitted the Prince. But I don't have time to waste resting until I recover. 

Jibaru nodded and sighed. He felt for him. He could well imagine the state his friend must be in after his return. 

-You'll see, it'll be a bit painful, but you'll feel better once the ritual's over," he reassured him as best he could. 

Niris then stopped in the corridor opposite his flats and faced the head of administration, sheepishly. Jibaru watched him for a moment, not quite sure what he was doing. 

-Are you waiting for something? 

-Well, for you to guide me? Aren't you supposed to be supervising the ritual?" retorted Niris, raising his eyebrows. 

Silly me," said the angel, raising his head to indicate that he had suddenly remembered what had brought him to his friend's house. 

-Follow me, it's a bit outside the palace," he told her, taking the lead of their little procession. 

Niris complied and followed him without saying a word. Jibaru's mind was in turmoil. He had so many questions to ask the prince, but he didn't know where to start. While he was still dithering over how to approach the many delicate subjects to be discussed, Niris drew him out of his reflections by taking the lead. 

-I've learned that the immigration office is in charge of managing the slaves recovered on Ornikarn? How are you getting on with this organisation? 

-How do you know that? You've only just woken up," questioned his friend in astonishment. 

-I read the official newspaper this morning," admitted Niris. 

Jibaru looked up at the sky. Of course he did. The workaholic had nothing better to do on his first day off than read the state news. 

-We'll manage as best we can," he replied a little evasively. The problem is that it's an urgent situation and the slaves keep arriving from all over the intergalaxy. 

Niris turned to him with a surprised look that made his friend smile. 

-Your stunt has had more repercussions than you think," he replied with a hint of pride in his voice. Since the announcement of the trial between the Aegean State and the Ornikarian State, many planet-states have freed their slaves and sent them to Egea by space convoy. We have already listed nearly 358,000 freed slaves who have set foot here, and more are planned. 

-358000.... repeated Niris, taken aback. 

Jibaru was still smiling. He knew that the little prince saw his operation as more of a failure than anything else, so he was desperate to make him realise the importance of what he had achieved. After all, he had risked his life, his love....to achieve his goal. It was far from being something trivial. 

-All the planets that allowed slavery to exist on their territory have declared that they will respect the moratorium on the abolition of slavery in the intergalaxy from now on, and have begun to bring to justice all those who participated in this trade in any way. The black marketers are being hunted down by INTERGApol with the help of the planets concerned. It's only a matter of days before they're all apprehended and tried for their crimes. 

Niris resumed his walk slowly. Jibaru walked beside him at his own pace. The gleam that had lit up in the prince's eyes reassured him. He was pleased with his achievement. 

-358000.... he repeated, as if to take the measure of what he had done. Now we have to welcome them back, reintegrate them and give them the chance of a second life. 

Jibaru held back a smile. This guy was unbearable! He couldn't do anything but think about affairs of state, it was almost annoying. 

-That's our job, you don't have to worry about that," he lectured him firmly. We're a resilient people, so a bunch of slaves back on their territory is nothing to the angels! They'll be used to life on Egea in no time.

Niris gave him a complex look. He wanted to go deeper into the subject but could see that his friend was forbidding him. After all, he wasn't wrong. He had other things to worry about. Jibaru was perfectly competent to deal with this problem, he had to trust him. Nevertheless...

-We've set up a temporary city in the capital to welcome them," continued the angel, who had seen the silent questions in his friend's eyes. As the vast majority of them were not born on Egea, we teach them the language and how our planet works. At the same time, we're giving them a full medical check-up and reconstituting their families as far as possible. Those who are fit to settle are accompanied by the reintegration centre that has been set up just for this purpose. The others will stay in the village for as long as necessary. Some need constant psychological support and may need it for the rest of their lives. The idea is for us to provide a solution tailored to each individual to help them make a fresh start after everything they've been through. 

The head of administration paused. He cast a sidelong glance at the Prince and noticed that he was listening avidly. He had always shared a similar philosophy with him on how to manage public policy, and they had a culture of constant debate. So he had always been very frank about his positions when they discussed. 

-What matters is that we offer them what we have failed to offer them as a State: security and the right to personal happiness," he continued with a hint of gloom in his eyes. The Emperor made a statement a few days ago acknowledging that the Aegean State had failed all those slaves and that he asked their forgiveness. In return for this failure, he committed the State to assisting all the slaves who returned to Egea for as long as they lived. 

Niris thanked him with a smile. He knew he was exaggerating, but he was concerned about the consequences of his actions. Knowing that the situation was well in hand reassured him. This operation meant so much to him... He felt responsible for these people, who were certainly free from any violent and external constraint forcing them into submission, but who also found themselves with nothing, and expatriated from the land they knew. It was no mean feat to change one's condition completely without warning. 

Suddenly, they reached a corner turret of the palace. The small structure was built on the top two floors and overlooked the city as if it were flying above, carried by the fickle wind. They stopped and looked at the view for a moment. The sky was dotted with small white clouds that cut through the strange clear blue of the sky that hung over the capital with all its weight. The weather was fine and the air fresh. It was ideal mid-season weather. Niris' favourite. 

He breathed in the fresh air, which caressed his face in its ceaseless dance. His lungs filled with the pure air that electrified him. A surge of life suddenly invaded him and he smiled. It had been so long since he'd felt like this! He had missed his planet, even if there was something else on Ornikarn that filled him and occupied all his mind... 

A dark veil passed over his eyes as he thought back to Seiran. A pang of pain pierced his heart when he thought of the news he had seen the day before. 

-And how are you?" asked Jibaru, who had seen the change in his friend's gaze. 

Niris didn't answer immediately. His gaze lost in the horizon, he seemed to be in the throes of a battle with inner demons ready to devour his insides at any moment if he let his guard down. 

-I'm fine," he replied. 

-Niris...

-Jibaru, there's nothing I can do," cut in the prince, his gaze still lost in the horizon. In the state I'm in today and given the state of things on the intergalactic level, there's absolutely nothing I can do. 

He turned to his friend, a sad smile on his face. 

-I can't go there to confront Zorkiel directly and bring Seiran back here, nor can I accuse him before the intergalactic court since I have no basis on which to accuse him... at the risk of starting an intergalactic war in either case. 

He lowered his eyes. This time he made no attempt to hide the despair that overcame him. 

-All I can do is wait, get stronger so that one day I can hopefully beat Zorkiel, and then wait for the right opportunity. In the meantime, I have to accept what's happening, whether it's Seiran's marriage to Yousmaïl Namar or her captivity on Ornikarn. 

Jibaru felt a twinge of sadness at seeing the little prince so downcast in front of him. Gently, he took his hand and enclosed it in his own, hoping to restore a little warmth by doing so. 

-Know that you are not alone, we are all with you," he tried to comfort him. Everyone here supports you and sympathises with what you're going through. 

The angel looked away. Jibaru felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. 

-And it's normal to feel tormented and lost, and to want to do irrational things to save him. You're an angel, and like all angels, and even demons and all humanoid species, you feel emotions. And it's normal not to be able to manage them. They're not meant to be controlled, that's what makes them so beautiful and painful at the same time. 

He paused for a moment, watching his friend fight back tears. He had tried to reassure him and had ended up making him cry. The angel felt lousy. He was no good at this, to tell the truth. It was always Niris who cheered him up, never the other way round. 

-You can't govern a heart like you govern a country," he finished, hoping to put a smile back on his face. 

And against all odds, it did. The angel raised his head and gave him a slightly forced smile, as if he hadn't been able to suppress it. 

-It's just that... I feel invaded by all sorts of emotions... and I don't know how to deal with them," he replied. I feel like a ball of electricity that goes from stormy to dead calm in less than a second. And I feel a bit... alone. Azur left without saying a word to me, Inja too... Luckily you're here, otherwise I'd feel completely lost! 

Jibaru pressed his hand, making him look into his eyes. He planted a firm gaze in his pupils that he wanted to leave a lasting impression. 

Niris, Azure didn't abandon you! Maybe he feels guilty and doesn't know how to face you now, but he didn't abandon you! he hammered to make sure his friend understood. Give him time, but he'll come back to you. He's got his own wounds to heal, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to see you, so get that out of your head! He'll come back! 

Niris looked at him for a moment. He appreciated what Jibaru was telling him, and he knew he was right. He knew Azure hadn't abandoned him. If he had cut off his channel of communication, it was because he didn't know how to deal with his own emotions. Azur was a very empathetic person who couldn't bear to hurt his friends. Niri knew this very well. But that didn't stop him from being deeply angry with him and resenting him for leaving without saying anything. 

He was angry with him, and he would tell him so the next time he saw him, because Azur was one of the people he knew he would need all his life. 

-I'm sorry to rush you at a time like this, but you mustn't hang around too long," Jibaru drew him out of his thoughts with an apologetic look. The ritual takes a bit of time, and the longer you wait, the weaker you get walking around like that....

The angel smiled and then asked her to show him the way. After wandering around the palace for a while, they ended up in a small garden surrounding the west wing of the castle. There, Jibaru led him to a sort of sanctuary, half buried under the vegetation. 

Angels didn't like to constrain nature, so when they built permanent structures, he left them at the mercy of the vegetation. Only a passageway leading to an underground staircase remained clear. Jibaru entered, followed by Niris, who was now looking around him with wide-open eyes. He knew this temple, but this was the first time he had entered it, as access was strictly forbidden and guarded at all times by two palace guards. 

The guards greeted the newcomers and let them pass. As they went deeper into the earth, Niris felt the cold of the stone bite into his skin beneath his light shirt. Energy lamps lit the way with their natural yellow light. The deeper they went underground, the quieter it became. 

While this calm atmosphere was soothing, Niris couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety creeping over him. His heart was pounding in his chest and he could feel it pounding against his chest. All his senses were alert to the unknown he was about to discover. 

Suddenly, they arrived in an underground cellar invaded by a translucent expanse of water. Here and there, Piules, those little yellow balls that were enclosed in lanterns to make energy lamps, floated in the air and on the surface of the water. They were simply a condensation of the energy present in the air, which clumped together because it could not be contained in the physical elements that surrounded them. So they were not living beings, but they danced to the whim of an unknown will that gave them the impression of fireflies frolicking around the pond. 

All around, lush vegetation surrounded the pond and pink water lilies floated on the surface of the water. It was an enchanting sight. 

-This sanctuary is an emissphere, a place that is a source of natural energy," explained Jibaru. Normally, these places are off-limits because of the danger they can cause to living energy beings like us angels, but now we're going to need its resources to get you back on your feet. 

Jibaru smiled enigmatically at the Prince, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Without giving him any further explanation, the adviser took a small glass box out of his pocket and opened it. He grabbed a small golden ball from inside and handed it to Niris, who took it and looked at it intriguedly. 

-It's a disconnector," Jibaru replied to his silent question. It will open the energy channel connection to your brain. 

Then he turned towards the water. 

-Then you lie down in the water. The natural energy that overflows the pond will seep directly into you through the open connection and fill your energy channels. After that, you'll be in phenomenal shape! 

Jibaru gave him a smile that split his face from ear to ear. A smile a little too forced for the Prince's taste. 

-I suppose a forcing operation like this won't be painless," he sighed, his eyebrows furrowed. 

He could see through his friend's game, and he knew enough about the workings of natural energy to know that. There was no magic. The natural energy of a living being was only regenerated over time, that was the rule. The more natural energy a person consumed, the longer it took to regenerate. And Niris had lost almost ninety-five per cent of his natural energy. 

In other words, it would take him several months of continuous meditation to recover all his natural energy. If you wanted to use gateways to shorten this recovery time, there was a price to pay. And the price was often pain, or even his own life. 

Jibaru cleared his throat. Niris sighed. He didn't need confirmation, he knew what he was getting into. But he had no choice. Tomorrow, he would have to consolidate his control over Niyari or she would take control of his body for good. He had no choice. Either way, his life was at stake, so he might as well risk it all. 

-I've got to eat this stuff and then go for a swim in it, right? he asked, taking off his shoes and tunic so that he only had his canvas trousers on. 

-Pretty much, except that the disconnection will take a little time," corrected Jibaru. You need to do one or two hours of meditation for the disconnector to take effect. Then you simply lie down on the surface of the water. It's important that you don't transform during the ritual...

-All right, I've got it," interrupted Niris, who swallowed the little golden ball.

It disintegrated in his mouth before he could swallow it. Without further ado, he sat down cross-legged on a flat stone overlooking the water. He closed his eyes. In no time at all, he felt the disconnector begin to take effect. His body was seized by a strange sensation of floating inside a bottle, as if part of his mind were untethered from its physical attachment. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, but it wasn't unbearable. He plunged into meditation. 

Without adding anything, Jibaru stood up beside him. He would have liked to warn him more about the dangers of the ritual and reassure him that he was there to monitor the process and intervene at any moment if his life was in danger, but he understood that the prince knew. Ever since he had returned from Ornikarn, a shadow had been written in his eyes and on his face. In the year he had spent away from him, Jibaru understood that the prince had changed a great deal. 

The emperor had done everything he could to ensure that his son had as innocent a childhood as possible, far from the worries of adults and, above all, the rulers. He wanted his son to develop as a person before becoming a ruler. From his earliest childhood, he had done everything to ensure that his son did not feel the weight of his succession on his shoulders, and had encouraged him to try all sorts of things, to follow his desires while growing up with his father's love always there to remind him of order and freedom at the same time. 

Thanks to his upbringing, Niris had become a man of incomparable inner beauty, according to Jibaru. Straightforward, intelligent and open-minded, he had a generosity of heart and a sensitivity that he embraced while knowing how to face life with determination. Like everyone else, he had his faults, which he sometimes succumbed to, but he was happy to question himself and knew how to ask for forgiveness. 

But despite his father's best efforts to keep him away from affairs of state, Niris showed a keen interest in imperial politics from an early age. He had avidly read all the theories, travelled through the history of the construction of the Egea empire and avidly studied the problems of governance, which he sought to resolve in the most constructive way possible. 

As a result, he naturally followed in his father's footsteps by passing the palace's administrative exams. But Niris had never faced up to this thing that had been inside him since his earliest childhood and which was beyond him. This indelible mark on him that he had inherited from his maternal line and which they had wanted to keep secret from him so that, once again, he would not be subjected to the choices of his ancestors and the heavy responsibilities that rested on his shoulders as a result. 

Thanks to the gentle childhood he had spent with his father and the freedom he enjoyed to explore whatever interested him, Niris had become a solid rock capable of turning to snow when necessary. But now that he knew, now that he could see the weight of his past and the consequences for his future, he understood. 

Jibaru knew this because he knew Niris better than he knew himself. The angel had returned knowing full well that his life no longer belonged to him, but to the entire intergalaxy. His destiny was that of his people. He had an immense responsibility that he could not escape, and this responsibility meant that he had to put his life on the line constantly. 

That's why he didn't need to know any more. He just knew. He knew that from then on it was a matter of life and death. He understood that he was walking on a rocky ridge surrounded on either side by two deep precipices. His job was to keep walking on this ridge without ever falling, because if he did, the mountain would collapse with him. And that was out of the question. 

Now that he knew that, he had no choice but to accept his fate and face up to it. That was the way it was, and he had come to terms with it. His eyes darkened as he became aware of the death that was walking beside him. Jibaru was sad to see his friend like this, but he knew it was inevitable. Instead of trying to protect him from this fatal fate, it was better to encourage and support him as best he could. Show him that he could be happy despite everything, that he had the right to be happy. And as his best friend, it was his duty to always give that support and confidence to the man who held the fate of the world in his hands. 

The two hours passed quickly. Calm and self-assured, Niris had assimilated the disconnection of his energy channel to his brain perfectly. Once the disconnection was almost complete, he stood up and slowly entered the water. In a controlled movement, he turned round, bent his legs and let himself fall backwards onto the watery surface. Appreciating the pain, he closed his eyes. 

The pain was not long in coming. The moment his neck came into contact with the water, an electric current ran through his body. The saturated natural energy of the water surged through his skin into his energy channel, then rushed into his open clasp to welcome the flood of energy he needed. 

The sensation was violent. In an instant, the angel felt his mind whirling, caught up in a tornado that wanted to cut him off from the rest of his body. But he resisted. He had to resist. Above all, he must not give in to the temptation to leave his body to escape the pain. He had to endure this pain until his body was completely filled with natural energy. 

All his limbs were tingling. He felt like he was being pulled apart by a wheel. His muscles ached. His breathing became ragged. None of his muscles responded to his command. All the while, the natural energy rushed through him like a greedy monster that had waited centuries for its prey to let its guard down before seizing it. 

The experience lasted a while. Niris couldn't say exactly how long, because the experience of the brutal violence to which he had fallen prey had made him lose all his bearings. His body went numb as he felt himself being invaded by the natural energy. Although he fought relentlessly against the temptation to cut all ties with his body, he couldn't help feeling overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of energy permeating him and the pain ravaging him. 

After a while, he heard a distant voice calling his name. Then he felt his body move without him ordering it to. With what little physical sensation he had left, he felt his body being lifted out of the water and placed on the cold surface of the stone. Then the last thing he saw was Jibaru's smile, which seemed to tell him he could rest now. 

Unable to fight any longer, the angel closed his eyes and let himself drift off into the darkness of sleep, which threatened to take him at any moment.