What if the greatest refuge wasn't a place... but a state of mind?
The sound of the drone was finally fading away.
For a few seconds, no one dared move. Sophie, Aria, and Jazz remained perfectly still, their eyes fixed on the canopy above. The metallic hum grew weaker and weaker until it blended into the sounds of the forest.
Then the silence returned, a real silence. Not the one in Biel, constantly broken by engines, announcements, or drones. This one seemed alive. It breathed.
Aria finally let out a long breath.
"I think we just broke our record for holding our breath."
Jazz rotated his dome.
"Confirmed. Forty-two seconds. An honorable performance for humans."
Sophie let out a small nervous laugh.
"Thanks, Jazz."
"I am also here to acknowledge your achievements."
The tension eased slightly. Then the sound of footsteps drew their attention. Someone was approaching.
Aria immediately straightened. Her hand instinctively slipped toward the machete hanging from her belt.
A young woman appeared between two tree trunks.
She wasn't trying to hide. Her backpack looked heavy. A large metal case was strapped to her back with several harnesses. Her clothes were covered with dirt and moss, as if she had been walking through the forest for a very long time.
When she spotted them, she stopped. Her gaze moved slowly from Sophie to Aria, then lingered for a few seconds on Jazz.
Finally, she slowly raised both hands.
"If I'd come to turn you in," she said calmly, "I probably wouldn't have shown up alone."
Aria didn't lower her guard.
"Depends. Maybe that's exactly what we're supposed to believe."
A faint smile crossed the stranger's face.
"That's a possibility."
Silence settled between them again.
"You've been following us?"
"For a while."
Aria's jaw tightened immediately.
"For how long?"
"Long enough to realize you didn't really know where you were going."
"That's reassuring."
"Not for you."
This time, even Sophie couldn't help smiling. The stranger spoke with a strange kind of calm, without trying to impress anyone.
Jazz finally spoke.
"Facial analysis: heart rate stable. Moderate stress. No hostile intent detected."
Aria rolled her eyes.
"You'll keep saying that right up until someone switches you off with a screwdriver."
"A pessimistic hypothesis... but a valid one."
The young woman laughed softly.
"I already like him."
Jazz turned his dome slightly.
"Information recorded."
Aria studied the stranger for another few seconds before sighing.
"Fine... Do you have a name?"
"Call me N..."
She offered them a small smile.
"...for now."
"We don't know each other well enough yet."
Something about her voice echoed strangely inside Aria's mind. As if she had heard it before.
Or dreamed it. Yet she couldn't remember where.
"So..." Aria asked. "What do you do?"
N hesitated for just a moment.
"Officially?"
She glanced toward the trees.
"I work as an engineer for Biel's drone network."
Silence fell instantly. Aria took one step forward.
"You're kidding."
"No."
"You helped build the drones hunting us."
"I helped design them."
Then she added calmly,
"Which is exactly why I know their limits."
That answer made Aria hesitate. N continued.
"Unofficially..."
She looked up at the canopy.
"...I'm mostly trying to understand why everything we've been told about Biel... and this forest... feels wrong."
No one answered.
The wind gently stirred the leaves.
Far away, a bird gave a short cry before silence settled once more.
Aria was still watching her.
There was something different about this young woman.
A quiet exhaustion.
As if she had been living between two worlds for a long time, without ever fully belonging to either of them.
At last, Aria slid her machete back into its sheath.
"All right."
"If you really wanted to turn us in..."
"...you would've done it already."
N nodded.
"Exactly."
Then she looked at Sophie.
"And I think... something is waiting for you."
Aria sighed.
"I just love answers that explain absolutely nothing."
This time, N laughed openly.
"You'll see."
She adjusted her backpack.
"Come with me."
"I know a place where you can finally catch your breath."
The three of them exchanged one last glance. None of them knew whether it was a good idea. But staying where they were was definitely a bad one.
So they followed N as she took the lead.
Without realizing it, they had just taken their first step toward a world that no longer obeyed Biel's rules.
N moved through the forest with surprising ease, as if the trees themselves whispered where to place her feet. Sometimes she walked around a giant trunk. Sometimes she slipped beneath an arch of tangled roots without slowing down.
Eventually, Aria smiled.
"Are you sure you didn't grow up here?"
N gently shook her head.
"No."
She thought for a moment before continuing.
"But things are easier for me here..."
"...because here, no one asks me who I am."
The silence that followed said more than any explanation could. Even Aria had nothing to add.
The ground gradually began to rise. Little by little, the trees grew older. Their trunks widened. Thick roots twisted across the ground like enormous sleeping animals, forcing the group to slow down.
High above them, the canopy filtered the sunlight into long green ribbons that seemed to float between the leaves.
Sophie naturally lifted her eyes. Ever since entering the forest, she had felt as though everything was watching. As if this place was simply waiting to discover who they really were.
Several times, they crossed tiny streams whose water disappeared almost immediately beneath the ferns.
A bright blue butterfly drifted slowly in front of Sophie before landing on a leaf beside her.
She stopped. The butterfly didn't fly away. It remained there for a few seconds… Then quietly disappeared.
"You attract them," N remarked.
"Who?"
"The animals."
Sophie frowned slightly.
"You think so?"
"Yes."
She watched the butterfly vanish into the greenery.
"They can sense the people who don't try to possess them."
Aria looked at Sophie.
"That..."
She smiled.
"...actually sounds true."
Sophie shrugged shyly.
"I've always preferred watching... instead of taking."
N offered her a discreet smile. She seemed to understand far more than she was willing to say.
The sound reached them long before they saw anything. A deep, distant, steady roar. Aria immediately tilted her head.
"Do you hear that?"
Sophie nodded.
"The water."
She smiled faintly.
"The same one we heard earlier... remember?"
The sound grew louder with every step. Then a cool breeze blended with the damp air of the forest. N turned around. For the first time since they had met her, a genuine smile lit up her face.
"We're almost there."
The group naturally picked up their pace. They pushed through one last curtain of ferns...
...and all stopped at the same time.
Before them, an incredible waterfall poured from the top of a small cliff completely covered in moss. The water plunged into a pool so clear it almost seemed unreal before continuing its journey between rocks polished smooth over centuries. Sunlight pierced the mist, drawing shimmering arcs of light above the water.
No one spoke. Even Jazz remained silent for a few seconds.
"Analysis..."
He paused.
"Magnificent."
Aria burst out laughing.
"Did you really just say magnificent?"
"I am gradually expanding my vocabulary."
Sophie was already walking toward the water, almost without realizing it. Each step seemed to lift something from inside her. She knelt at the edge of the pool. The water was so clear she could see every colored stone resting at the bottom.
Slowly, she dipped her fingers into it. The cold made her shiver. But almost instantly… A strange sense of peace spread through her entire body. She remained perfectly still. Her eyes closed. As if the sound of the waterfall was finally covering the constant noise that had lived inside her mind for so many years.
Aria watched her.
"So?"
Sophie slowly opened her eyes.
A smile lit up her face.
A smile she hadn't worn in years.
"I think..."
She searched for the right words.
"I think this water is singing."
Aria was about to answer. Then she stopped.
The roar of the waterfall filled the entire clearing. And yet… For the briefest moment… She too thought she heard something else. A melody hidden beneath the rushing water.
"Either I'm losing my mind..."
She looked around.
"...or this forest is seriously starting to infect me."
N smiled as she calmly set her metal case down beside a rock. Without a word, she took off her shoes and stepped into the water. A light shiver ran through her body. Then she became perfectly still. Only a few seconds later, the tension had already left her face.
Sophie watched her.
"Here..."
She spoke almost in a whisper.
"It feels like everything that makes noise inside my head finally falls silent."
The sentence lingered in the air. Aria looked at the water, then at Sophie.
"I hate it when other people have good ideas."
She began taking off her shoes.
Jazz immediately turned his dome.
"Important information: I would like to remind everyone that I am not amphibious."
"You stay here."
"You guard the camp."
"Finally. A mission suited to my abilities."
Sophie stepped into the pool first. The water was colder than she had expected. She caught her breath. But very quickly… The cold disappeared. She felt something moving gently through her body. As if an old exhaustion were quietly leaving her.
She closed her eyes. Around her, the waterfall continued to sing. Not only through the water. There was something else : a vibration, a rhythm, a presence. She no longer tried to understand it. She simply let herself be carried.
Aria stepped into the water as well.
"Ah!"
She immediately pulled one foot back out.
"It's freezing!"
N laughed.
"Thirty-two seconds."
"You've said that before."
Aria sighed. She took a deep breath...
...then plunged straight in up to her waist.
"AH!"
The others laughed.
Sunlight still reached the pool through the mist. A few rays illuminated the water's surface. Dozens of tiny glowing insects appeared among the ferns. They floated for a few moments...Then vanished again.
Sophie watched them with fascination.
"Do you see them?"
Aria looked up.
"See what?"
The little lights had already disappeared. Sophie decided to keep it to herself. Not because she was afraid. But because she felt she would learn more by observing than by demanding an explanation right away.
Aria remained silent for a while. Then her gaze drifted down toward the water. She caught sight of her reflection.
Immediately, she looked away.
N noticed.
"You never look at yourself?"
Aria shrugged.
"Not really."
Silence settled again.
Then she added with a small ironic smile,
"Let's just say..."
"...we've always had a complicated relationship."
N didn't answer. She simply watched the water flowing between the rocks. Then, without warning… She splashed Aria. A spray of crystal-clear water hit her square in the face. Aria shouted. Then burst into laughter. Within seconds, the quiet waterfall became a battlefield. Splash after splash.
"No, stop!"
Laughter echoed against the surrounding rocks. Since leaving Biel… It was the first time they laughed without looking over their shoulders.
A little farther away, Jazz had started mapping the surrounding area.
"Analysis in progress."
A brief pause.
"I can confirm the almost complete absence of network coverage."
Aria burst out laughing.
"You're still looking?"
"Hope is part of my programming."
A short silence.
"That was an attempt at humor."
Sophie laughed out loud.
"You're getting better!"
"Thank you."
He paused briefly.
"I'm learning from the best."
"Now you're exaggerating."
"I understand that exaggeration is also a human skill."
Even Neris laughed. A real laugh this time. Sophie watched her discreetly. She no longer looked like the wary young woman they had met just a few hours earlier. For a few moments… She simply looked happy.
The sun was slowly beginning to sink behind the trees. The shadows stretched gently around the pool.
"We should get going."
Aria immediately looked up.
"Already?"
"Yes."
Neris's smile slowly faded.
"The drones usually avoid this area..."
She looked up at the canopy.
"...but I'd rather never give them the chance to change their minds."
As Sophie stepped closer to the edge of the pool, she noticed small ripples spreading across the surface of the water.
As if… The water had answered.
The Guardian Angel : Water is not only the guardian of life. It also accompanies the soul on its journey through both the visible and the invisible worlds. It is said that the Great Spirit of Water is the Father of all Guardian Angels, for Angels do not watch over our physical bodies. They watch over what is most precious within us...
Our soul. And yet… Hearing your soul requires far more than ears.
And you... can you still recognize its voice?