Salomé was overwhelmed with tears, deeply disturbed by the vision of Sakolomé and Bakuran, brutally murdered. Desperate to find the culprits, she initially accused Velda or the mysterious young woman she had recently met.
The sky rumbled, an eerie whirlwind of energy manifested in the dark sky, accompanied by diabolical laughter that seemed to come from beyond. A thunderous voice echoed: "Hahahahaha, a dark truth, isn't it?"
Salomé stood up clumsily, her eyes fixed on the sky with fierce determination. "Velda, it's you!" she shouted, her voice carried by the wind.
Velda appeared, gigantic and terrifying, striking the ground with titanic force that created powerful gusts. Salomé was thrown to the ground, like an ant facing such colossal power. "It's Madame Velda for you, little mortal," Velda declared. "You owe me respect; we don't play in the same league."
Velda moved away, reducing her terrifying stature to a more human posture. "My name is Veldana. I met your brother Sakolomé in a cemetery and appreciated his sincerity. I saw his future, but he wouldn't have been able to remain calm facing that terrifying vision. I chose you, Salomé, because you can bear and change the future without telling anyone."
Salomé replied with sadness: "So all this was a near future?"
Velda confirmed: "I fear so. But I can't help you more than that. Showing your future was already too much. Sally will die, your brothers will die, your father will die, your mother will die of grief... Only Bakuzan and you will survive."
Salomé suddenly remembered the mysterious young woman in her flashbacks. The young woman was crying, lamenting that she couldn't save her loved ones. Salomé approached and comforted her, trying to understand her words.
"I was too weak... If only I were strong, I could have saved them, but I was too weak... I ended up alone and lost in the darkness... I so want to change everything, but it's impossible..."
Salomé still didn't understand what the young woman was talking about, but she drew closer and took her in her arms to try to comfort her. "Stop crying, please, it hurts me."
The young woman replied: "Our hearts are already torn enough, don't you think? Do you think you can avoid this story for us? Will you be able to prevent us from suffering?"
Salomé withdrew, surprised. "What are you talking about?"
The young woman closed her eyes and said with a soothing tone: "Everything depends on you now, it's up to you to play. Our destiny depends on you."
Salomé was even more surprised: "No... Are you saying that this young woman... was me?"
Velda reappeared: "Yes, it was you, Salomé. If you don't change the past, you will become exactly that young woman in the future, and I can assure you that you will never have peace."
A shiver ran through Salomé. Then another determined look covered her face. She shouted towards Velda: "But then, who is behind all this? I will change the future! I don't have the right to waste time if nothing has happened yet. I have the power to change everything. So, who is the one who wants to kill us so much? Who is it? I want to know, Velda!"
Velda chuckled: "Hahaha... I prefer this way of responding. I knew you would handle this revelation better, you, the one who laughs when everything goes wrong!!"
Velda vanished into the sky, and a silhouette appeared. A strange silhouette that didn't remind Salomé of anything.
Salomé asked: "Who is he?"
The giant silhouette in the sky began to say: "The plan to eradicate the Killer Man..."
Salomé repeated, intrigued: "The plan to eradicate the Killer Man?"
The silhouette continued: "The plan to eradicate the Killer Man was successfully carried out by... Gaïus!!!"
Salomé opened her eyes wide in astonishment. "Gaïus, who is that?"
Another strange silhouette appeared, blurring the first one. This silhouette was even stranger, but its appearance vaguely reminded Salomé of someone.
Salomé exclaimed: "Dr. Grijan!!!"
Salomé opened her eyes as if she was waking up from a dream. She noticed that all the chaos had disappeared, everything seemed normal except for a heavy rain pounding the ground.
She looked ahead and saw Aquila standing, holding a piece of wood.
Salomé said: "Aquila!"
Aquila was angry and shouted: "So how did you do that? You know what I'm talking about!!"
A massive thunderclap struck the sky, revealing the silhouettes of Salomé and Aquila around the beach.
Aquila continued to scold Salomé: "You're crazy? You know what I'm talking about!! There was the explosion, then you flew like a witch, and then the giant creature... And without understanding how, everything disappeared. Everything was as if nothing had ever happened. The sky was normal, I was normal, except you who were unconscious. Admit that you wanted to manipulate me with energy and magic to make me believe in a danger, and then you just ran out of mana and everything became normal again. You created illusions to deceive me, didn't you?"
Salomé remained silent, her hair covering her face under the pouring rain. She replied softly with a cold tone: "Aquila... Honestly... Do you perceive me as such a bad person that I would want to manipulate you?"
Aquila was surprised: "Hugh..."
Salomé continued: "The stick you have in your hand, is it to hit me, isn't it? So go ahead, hit me!"
Aquila looked at Salomé and noticed a serious change in her; she was even crying.
Salomé said: "Go ahead, hit me like never before. Aquila doesn't hold you back. I understand that I can never have your friendship or anyone else's, and that's completely fine with me. If hitting me can relieve you now, do it and disappear please. Living alone doesn't bother me as long as I have my family to rely on."
Aquila was surprised to hear what Salomé said. She clearly had had enough of everything.
Salomé continued: "My family is all I have, it's what I cherish most. They help me bear the contempt of others towards me... I don't want anything to happen to them. I don't want Sally to die, I don't want Bakuzan to end up dead with his belly torn, I don't want Sakolomé to die perched, I don't want Papa to die, I don't want Mama to die... I don't want to become evil and end up in darkness!!!"
Aquila seemed suddenly filled with compassion.
Aquila said: "Salomé..."
He spoke with a calmer voice.
Salomé cried again, still in tears: "I've had enough... If I have to bear the contempt of everyone and then lose my family, I'd rather die... What did we do to deserve all this? Papa stopped the Killer Man, he's a real hero, but they distorted the story to make us hated..."
Aquila began to speak, but Salomé interrupted him: "For goodness' sake, Aquila! What are you waiting for? Hit me! Isn't that what you're good at towards my family and me? Making us suffer martyrdom!!!"
Salomé continued to cry under Aquila's thoughtful gaze.
In Aquila's thoughts, there was a memory of a young girl at a market watching over her mother's merchandise and suffering unprovoked hatred three years ago.
Aquila said: "Salomé... I dare hope you listen to me..."
He looked at Salomé continuing to cry on the ground.
Aquila: "I'm really sorry!"
Aquila raised the wood, preparing to hit Salomé, but in an unexpected gesture, he hit himself on the head, breaking the wood into pieces. He bled, tears streaming down his face.
Salomé, feeling the violence of the blow, stopped crying for a moment and looked at Aquila.
Aquila was standing with tears in his eyes, blood covering his face.
Salomé asked: "Aquila... Are you completely crazy? Why did you do that?"
Aquila sat down and said: "Shut up, Salomé..."
Salomé: "What?"
Aquila spoke slowly, the pain evident as he continued to lose blood.
Aquila: "Do you remember a day when you were at the market, watching over your mom's merchandise, and a young boy came near you? Well, that young boy was me."
Salomé looked at Aquila with full attention.
Aquila: "Yes, it was me. You suffered hatred even though you did nothing. All you wanted was to play with me, but my mother took it out on you. Honestly, I always believed you hated me, that you hadn't forgotten anything, but were just pretending to stab me in the back later. I also thought your smile was just manipulation. After suffering so much injustice, normally one seeks revenge, but you always smiled..."
Salomé was still attentive to what Aquila said, who continued to lose blood.
Aquila: "I thought your parents were preparing a huge revenge and that you knew it, and that's why you smiled, because sooner or later you would laugh at seeing those who wronged you suffer. However, I was partly right on one point: your smile was indeed fake. But where I was wrong was in believing it was a manipulative smile. In reality, the smile you show so much is just a mask to hide your suffering, isn't it, Salomé?"
Salomé nodded slowly with a sad look.
Aquila: "There you go, in reality, you suffer greatly, but you keep smiling. You're really a champion, Salomé. I apologize indefinitely. The wood I broke on my head will pay for the harm I made you suffer, even though you didn't deserve it. It's those who make you suffer who truly deserve to suffer."
Aquila moved closer to Salomé and said: "Will you give me a hug, please?"
Salomé nodded and hugged Aquila. Salomé noticed that Aquila was also crying.
Salomé asked: "Aquila... Are you crying?"
Aquila: "I'm so sorry, Salomé. From the day at the market, I always wondered if you were a good person, your suffering must have been really terrible. And seeing that, in reality, you are... snif... snif... you are a good person, then I imagine!!"
Salomé gave a strong smile.
Salomé: "Aquila, thank you. A hug is exactly what I needed right now. Thank you so much."
Aquila: "Shut up, I also needed a hug... snif... snif."
Salomé smiled: "Oh... Your head, I'll try to do something about that."