She woke up again.

She was a child, no more than six years old.

She was surrounded by adults, many adults, very angry.

She did not remember what had happened, she only knew that these adults were eager to hurt her, that none of them would protect her. She had the feeling that she had recently been under great suffering, but she didn't know why, it wasn't the most important thing at that moment.

The adults grabbed her by the arms, legs and head. They prepared to beat her.

—No! No!— she shrieked.

She kicked hard, but she was no match for the adults' big hands.

—Don't be fooled!— someone shouted.

It had not been any of the adults she saw, but someone else, someone far away. It was a familiar voice, Erica was sure she knew him, she just couldn't remember him. A faint glimmer of hope began to rise in her heart. Maybe, just maybe she was not alone in this world.

—Free yourself!— the voice continued, as the adults held her back— They're just illusions, get out of there!

But the adults holding her felt too real to be an illusion. Their hands were strong, their faces scary, their fists raised about to strike her, she was sure their punches would really hurt.

—They're not real!— the voice continued— I'm the only real thing here, you and me. Please come to me, Erica. Only you can do it!

The manly voice was beginning to break into a cry. Erica realized that this man was crying for her, he cared for her, he loved her and was sad because she was suffering. Erica abandoned her doubts about the voice, she no longer cared if it was real or not, she only knew that, if there was someone in that cruel world who loved her, the only thing she could do was to put all her hopes in that person.

Then the first of the adults punched her face, but she tackled him with her hand and with all her strength pushed him away.

—None of you are real!— she barked at them— I have someone who loves me, who waits for me! I have my...

The word came back to her mind in the blink of an eye.

—I have my dad!

She was flooded with the memory of the time she had killed a bunch of adults because she was cornered. She remembered it well, when she was a kid. She had been desperate, but her dad had shown up at a crucial moment to save her. There was no longer any doubt.

She kicked the nearest adult away. She noticed that her leg had grown back along with the rest of her body. She was a 19-year-old girl again. The rest of her memories came rushing back as she struggled and shook off her attackers.

—I have a dad waiting for me!— she said to herself— I'm not dead yet, I'm still me, I can't give up!

She finished off all the initial enemies, but soon more appeared, attacking her like wild beasts, as strong as her. Erica had to make an enormous effort to protect herself during the fight. At one point she managed to get some distance.

—Dad, where are you?— she called out to him.

A light appeared in the distance. Erica didn't think twice, she simply ran towards it with all the strength her legs would allow, while her demons chased after her. Soon a barricade of police officers appeared ahead, who aimed and fired at her. Erica tried to dodge their shots, but the bullets spun in the air to chase her and she ended up taking each one in every corner of her body. The pain was unbearable, at times she stopped breathing, she thought she would die again, but she forced herself to continue in spite of everything.

—It's not real!— she said to herself— None of this is real, these bullets aren't hurting me!

She felt her blood dripping cold, as if announcing that she was already dead. She felt her broken bones begging her to stop and cry out in pain, but she kept going.

Finally she jumped over the barricade of policemen, who continued firing. One patrol car followed and ran over her, but Erica got up and kept running. Another passed over her, but Erica didn't stop.

—There's not much left! Don't give up, princess— her dad begged her.

The light was getting brighter. She began to see his silhouette again on the other side of the crack in the wall. In that instant, her schoolmates emerged from the timitio floor. Ocko and Raquel ran at her at full speed. Erica tried to dodge them, but Ocko grabbed her by the neck and Raquel pierced her stomach with a punch.

Erica stifled a scream, gritting her teeth.

—I've already killed you! Don't keep fucking with me!

With one elbow she broke Ocko's arm, kicked Raquel's face, landed and kept running. The rest of her companions swarmed over to kill her in dozens of different ways, but Erica was slapped and kicked them off her to continue her run, letting no one stop her. Then her companions pulled extensions of timitio from their hands; swords, spears, axes, maces and all the bladed weapons that could hurt her. They amputated her arms, split her head with maces, buried all manner of sharp weapons in her back and chest, cut her, crushed her, burned her with boiling oil, gouged out her eyes and broke her bones, but none could stop her. Erica walked through them and left them behind.

From there she saw her father, barely a hundred meters away. There was almost nothing left.

—DAD!

—I am here, princess!— he shouted, stretching out his hand— Hold on, you almost made it!

Erica picked up the pace as fast as her legs would carry her, but then two huge hands the size of houses appeared from either side to block her way. Looking back, Erica was confronted by a beast as big as a building, dark, with metal spines all over its back and shoulders, with a hideous mouth with seven rows of fangs and disproportionately long limbs. That was Abyss, her little Abyss.

The girl barely glanced at him, but didn't stop. She was already too close to stop, she couldn't stop. The huge hands hovered over her, they were so big that they could catch her and immobilize her without giving her a chance to break free. Behind, her classmates, the policemen and the furious adults gave chase to kill her over and over again.

Not knowing if she would succeed, Erica looked to her father for a solution. He said nothing, but frowned at her and waved his arm impatiently. Erica understood the message: "you can do it, I trust you".

—I can handle this— she thought.

Abyss’ hands were about to catch her, they just needed to close and they would lock her for an eternity in unbearable torment. Then Erica took a breath to calm down, turned to him and screamed loudly.

—ABYSS!— she yelled in a reprimanding tone— I COMMAND YOU TO STOP THIS VERY INSTANT!

The parasite's huge hands stopped for a moment, frightened by the tone of his host's voice. Erica looked at him like a furious parent, passed between both claws, crossed the last meters that separated her from her dad, and finally jumped and grabbed him by the arm. Abyss screamed, the timitio that flooded the room became a powerful wave that threatened to sweep her away. However, her father pulled her back and forced her out. Erica crossed the white hole. The light blinded her.

 

Everything became blurred. She regained consciousness at times, but nothing made sense. She saw her dad holding her in one arm, while with the he grabbed a golden chain that led them upwards. Everything else was a blur, her eyelids were heavy, her head was spinning.

—What...— she wanted to ask, but even her tongue was numb.

—Calm down, princess— Lucifer told her— you did very well. You're safe now.

—The... timi... timitio— she asked.

—The timitio won't do anything to you— he assured her in a soft tone— Now go back to sleep, you need to recharge.

She liked this idea, so she closed her eyes and fell asleep on her father's shoulder.

 

When she woke up again, she found herself next to a campfire inside the remains of a roofless hut, lost in the snowy mountains. Surprised, she stood up and looked around, but there was no one else there.

—How...— she wanted to know.

She remembered clearly what she had suffered in her inner place. Then she looked at her hands, but they were not black; she was not a territi, she was still a normal person.

—How could it be?— she wondered.

The run she had made in her inner place to the hole her dad had opened had to have something to do with it, but it didn't make sense. He couldn't have been there to rescue her, since he was locked in the Core.

—Was it all an illusion?— she wondered— Or maybe I am a territi and this is all the dream.

However, she had no way to verify anything. She was very confused, but at least she was still herself, that was what mattered most.

Still she checked her timitio levels. She noticed that they had increased a bit; they now spanned both of her full arms, including her shoulders. It was like Pol'kar.

Finally she took a few minutes to observe Abyss. She sat by the fire and pondered returning to her inner place, though perhaps it was a lousy idea, but she felt she should try anyway.

Again she found herself inside the room. The hole was gone, neither was the flood of timitio. It had even leveled out again. In front of her, seated, was Abyss. The creature looked as confused as she was.

—How are you?— she asked.

Abyss looked at her, but did not know what to answer. Besides his confusion and a little discomfort, he didn't seem to have any aftereffects from the incident.

—You don't know what happened, do you?— she asked at last.

But Abyss didn't know how to respond either. Erica sighed, and jumped back into the real world. There she stood up.

—I have to find my friends— she said to herself.

 

Everything was spinning, everything hurt, it was hard to open his eyelids, but when he did, he remembered what had happened.

Altered, he sat up and looked at his surroundings; they were out in the open, next to a large gate in the mountains. It was very cold, but the sun was warm from above. Liliana was beside him, but Erica was nowhere to be found.

—Erica!

As best he could, he stood up and approached the wide open door. He immediately confirmed that it was the same door of the bridge through which Erica had thrown them, but when he looked inside he found nothing but a broken bridge in an abandoned room. All the territi were gone, Erica too.

Overcome, he fell to his knees on the floor and began to cry.

—Erica...— he mumbled, tears sliding down his cheeks.

But no matter how much he cried and sobbed her name, he wasn't going to bring her back. He thought about going back, going into the cave by himself and looking for her, but he knew it was useless, he would just die in vain. Disconsolate, he hugged himself and remembered the last gift she had given them: that tight embrace before saving them. He wondered what she had been thinking in doing so, and then laughed a little. Only she would sacrifice herself like that.

After his tears ran out, he returned his gaze to Liliana, who remained asleep. She was very pale, but no longer bleeding.

—Is she healed?— the boy wondered.

He approached to examine her. He noticed a twinge of pain in the arm that had been dislocated. Puzzled, he stared at it.

—Of course! How could I forget that?! I had a broken arm— he said to himself.

However, at that moment he could use it almost perfectly. Something strange was going on there.

—Eeeeeeeek!— shrieked something nearby.

He turned, saw a white trail approaching him like lightning. For an instant he feared for his life, but then he recognized Papel at his shoulder, squealing animatedly.

—Where did you come from?— asked the boy— It wasn't you who healed us, was it?

But Papel just ran around his torso. Then he jumped on Liliana to lick her forehead, worried.

—Eeeeeek!

—Yes, I know. It's just...—he scratched his head—all this is so weird.

He sat down next to Liliana. Although she didn't seem to be bleeding anymore, he examined her anyway. He confirmed that all her wounds had healed, but the blood loss was a fact and she wasn't doing very well. Arturo turned to ask Erica to carry her, but there was no one else there.

—We're back to being you and me, huh?— he said to Liliana, trying to cheer himself up, but right there and then, nothing seemed funny to him anymore.

Not knowing what to do, he sat down next to her to rest. He still needed to recover his energy.

After a few minutes, what he least expected happened; two chains became visible, one attached to his chest and the other to Liliana's. He hadn't seen them for a long time, but he remembered them perfectly; they were Erica's chains.

—Erica!— he cried.

Anxious, he moved Liliana to wake her up. She sat up, alert, but the lack of blood made her nauseous.

—Oh, my head... What happened? Where are we?

—Outside, we got out of the cave.

—Oh, good— she looked in all directions, confused— Where's Erica?

As soon as she finished her question, however, she remembered the last thing that had happened before she fainted.

—Erica!— she cried.

Then Arturo pointed to his chest.

—She's alive!— asserted the boy— She's calling us, see?

Liliana needed a few seconds to examine the chains and understand what he meant. She tried to grab them, but her hand only went through them. Then she followed them with her eyes, they were heading up the mountain. They were at a high point, but still had a long way to climb.

With difficulty, they got to their feet and began to march. They walked carefully, for neither of them was in top form. Their march was not interrupted by any kind of monsters, nor did they even see a territi. The silence of the Kervel mountains enveloped them. Their footsteps were the only thing that produced noise, besides an occasional squeak of Papel. They climbed a long way like that, until suddenly, in the distance, they saw a figure descending the rocky mountainside.

—It's her!— pointed Arturo— Erica!

The brika also saw them. She immediately slid across the ground to cross the distance in seconds and embrace them in a tight hug.

—You guys!— she exclaimed— You're all right!

—Erica!— they responded.

Then the three of them began to cry.

—We thought you were dead!— Liliana complained, between sobs.

—So did I!

Arturo simply squeezed her side, unable to speak. Liliana wanted to protest Erica's sacrifice, but she preferred to leave it for later. At that moment she could only rejoice.

 

Horror, horror. Everything was horror.

She lived in constant fear. However, she remembered that at a certain moment it had been different. At a certain time she had been in a place where she almost felt safe.

She missed that place. Where had it gone? She had lost it completely and could never go back there now. All that remained was fear.

She thought herself lost, but suddenly she heard a voice calling out to her Who could it be? What did it want to tell her?

"You are... different from the rest" the voice mumbled.

"You... have an ego".

"You can stand up".

But she was afraid.

"Get up".

But she couldn't.

"Get up and find that place you long for!"

This brought her to his senses. Yes, she wanted to go back to that place, it was what she wanted most in the whole world.

"Ah... that's easy enough. I'll show you" said the voice.

—Okay.