Chapter 51: The Shadow of a Free World

They walked through the woods, leaving behind them the veil of smoke still visible on the horizon.

Each step on the damp earth was a victory. A heartbeat stolen from death.

Mayu moved forward in silence.

Zéro, for her part, observed everything: the trees, the sky, the birds. Everything seemed to fascinate her.

Like a child discovering the world for the very first time.

— So this is freedom… Zéro murmured.

Mayu did not answer. Not immediately.

Freedom.

She too thought she knew it.

But now that she was truly tasting it… she was not so sure anymore.

Free, yes. But to do what?

Flee? Hide? Rebuild?

— We can't stay here, she finally said.

Zéro nodded.

— I know. They will come looking for us.

— Not only them.

Mayu stopped at the edge of a brook. She bent down to drink, splashing water on her face. The water was icy, but real. Alive.

Zéro knelt beside her.

— Do you think we'll find a safe place?

Mayu looked up at the sky.

Heavy clouds were gathering on the horizon. A storm was approaching.

She clenched her fists.

— No. But we can create one.

Zéro looked at her, intrigued.

— You mean… for others like us?

— Exactly.

An idea was beginning to take shape in her mind.

A cause. A direction.

Not just to flee. But to build. To offer refuge to those the world had broken.

— If they created us to obey, then being free means disobeying them until the end.

Zéro smiled.

— And what if we became their fatal mistake?

Mayu responded with a hard, determined look.

— No. We will become their memory. The one they will never be able to erase.

The first drops of rain began to fall.

They did not move.

They remained there, two survivors under an angry sky.

And for the first time, Mayu looked ahead.