PENSIONNAT - VERSION ENGLISH - BOOK FINISH

° 6 °

I was trembling slightly, but I didn't show it...at least I was trying...Derne seemed satisfied with my "determination" to finish. That's why he waited, patiently, for me to attack first.

I rushed to his chest and struck roughly on his chest. I started again, immediately after, with another rough blow, but this time directed towards his legs. And so on, I hit him without stopping.

Not once did I manage to hit him. Each attack, as fast as I wanted, was seen by his stick. I stopped, exhausted. I had to catch my breath!

Him, he stopped the air of nothing. The tiredness did not touch him. He was only possessing this body. It was Derne who was suffering in this fight, not him.

- Derne..., I whispered. How can I help you?

Then the world went black. Like a curtain coming down at the end of a play, plunging the world into total darkness.

I could hear the hoarse laughter of my assassin. I concluded that he had just hit me. The more I thought about it, the more pain I felt in the back of my head. Rha! What an idiot! You don't rest in the middle of a fight!

But frankly... I was really down. I could surrender... Then I would go and rest... That would be more reasonable than continuing this fight.

*****

*FLASH*

- A lily flower?

- Do you know this flower? Derne seemed surprised.

- ...to tell the truth, I only know the emblem. I never really knew what the flower in question looks like. I read the name on the card there.

I showed her the little sign that was beautifully decorated by Madame Rose. She was the one who took care of the gardens.

Everything was beautiful this evening. I was still a bit dizzy after our dance... That's why Derne kept holding my hand.

- Here you go! It's for you. Derne didn't look away from the flower.

- You're giving me a flower?! My heart was starting to race.

- You could use it to educate yourself a little. He said in a blasé tone.

- Ah. It was almost cute...but it wasn't.

- The fleur de Lys is important for the Ghota. Derne insisted.

- Because thanks to it, they learn? I was all alone, laughing at my joke. He remained serious and rather disappointed. He left without me, leaving me the flower.

- Wait a minute! I'm just kidding! Stop taking everything so seriously! I caught up with him at his height.

-... The flower, it has gifts.

- Ah. Wow!

We had just fallen on a small river (A small river as wide as the Seine...). It seemed infinite. It surrounded the gardens. It was the limit.

- We have to turn around. Derne ordered.

- How did we get this far?

- By having a good time.

Was I starting to hear voices, or was it Derne's mouth that just said that?

- Come on, let's go. Derne said.

He held my hand all the way to the party. The music was still playing on the dance floor and the students were laughing out loud.
At the beginning of a soft music, he gently let go of my hand. I felt a little disappointed, but it was over. We had to go back to our dormitories, like old strangers.

- See you later! I said before darting towards Max and Grayce.

In one swift movement, before my feet even touched the blossoming deck, he took my arm. He pulled me against him where my chest touched his. Our faces were so close, it cut my breath in half.

Is my first kiss going to happen here?! With a Dark Spectre?! With Derne?! I'm not ready! How do I do it? Should he be the one to approach his face first?...or should I tell him he can kiss me? I should warn him... With a wink? No! That would look like a porn actress!

He smiled. A smile that pierced my heart a billion times.

Why is he smiling now?! HOW DO YOU DO IT!!!

- You forgot your flower.

Then he let go of me and went off on his own.

- I don't believe it... I was on the verge of a heart attack.

* FLASH*

*****

Hard return to reality! The pain in my head had increased!

I got up with difficulty while opening my eyes. How could I stand with this pain? I looked in front of me and tried to see something. My vision was blurred! It was a white light that guided me.

- Wha...what's going on now... ?

In front of me, Derne's neck was surrounded by a transparent white halo. What was the old man doing to him again?
I concentrated on the light, where all of a sudden I went forward. The image stopped at the back of his neck. It zoomed in on a point in the middle. Words from the Ghota language appeared and I heard a soft feminine voice speaking to me.

- The spirit door.

I didn't have time to wonder where it was coming from. Besides, ever since I entered this school, hearing voices had been a part of my daily life! But because of that, I knew. I knew how to save Derne.

I ran at him at full speed, hitting him as if for the first time. Once in the torso, then in the legs, then in the back, and then again.

He parried, as every time, all my attacks. At the end of my third sequence, instead of going to the legs, I raised my body and hit, with the palm of the stick, the center of his neck.

Derne collapsed like a puppet.

I had won.