SEISMIC LOVE

“Mom! Mom! Mom!” – A little boy came screaming into the kitchen, his slippers echoing,

startling the woman who was mixing cornmeal and other ingredients in a pot on

the table. – “I made a new friend!”

The woman put her hand to her chest to calm the palpitations, dropping the wooden spoon,

she didn't know where her son got so much energy even after class.

“How good my angel.” – The woman said in a soft voice, making a gesture for the little

one to approach. – “Put away your backpack and come help mother to bake some

bolo de cabo-de-madeira, yes?”

The boy nodded and ran to leave his backpack in his room, the mother heard him stumble and

grunt, he must have hit something, but he quickly returned to grab the hem of his mother's skirt, his eyes shining with longing because only once a year his mother made that recipe, for the Santa Barbara Festival.

The kitchen was simple, with exposed brick, grayed by smoke from the woodstove, but the

smell of clay and wood was what made that house a home for the little boy.

“Tell me about the new friend of yours.” - The mother said, returning to the service but

still giving her child some attention, the boy smiled his widest smile and told his mother what had happened.

It was playtime. The best part of going to school was the break. Not that studying was

bad, it just wasn't as intriguing as everything there was to be seen and felt outside the classroom, the walls of the house that served as a school, it's fences, the city limits, and beyond.

That's how Davi ran out the door when the bell rang, with his disheveled hair obstructing his vision, and ran into a smaller boy.

Davi was used to this kind of situation. Really. It was routine to bump into his classmates down the only corridor of the elementary school. And as a routine, the classmates fell to the ground and cried. The boy waited for the other one to start the outburst, but instead, the boy with properly lined up dark hair just checked his clothes, frowned and continued on his way.

“Hey Hey hey.” – Davi said running after the other. – “I'm Davi!”

“Pedro.”

Davi looked at Pedro, his social clothes, with tie and all, something that no child, not even one, had ever worn to go to that school. Davi had never seen that boy before. He had tanned skin and his eyes were a dark green, streaked with aqua green, unlike the amber and gold eyes of everyone else.

“You're new!”

“I'm not! I am already seven years old.” - Pedro pointed it out, embarrassed.

With that Davi burst out laughing, while Pedro, blushing ashamed, walked quickly away from the boy who was bending over, holding his belly with laughter.

“Davi! That was rude!” – Davi's mother, Dona Lourdez, interrupted the boy's chatter. – “You have to apologize to the boy Pedro when you find him.”

“But mom!” – Davi crossed his arms with a frown. – “I haven't finished telling the story yet.”

“I'm sorry my angel, go on then, but first get the oven running for mom, yes?”

Before she finished speaking, the boy was already running out into the yard to heat the clay oven.

Then, with his cheeks aching with laughter, and his eyes burning with tears, Davi ran to the schoolyard looking for Pedro. In the makeshift patio, children from the school's four classes played. Davi saw Pedro with some ease, not only because of his looks, the boy was the only one who was not sharing the toys.

“Found ya!” – Davi shouted, running towards the boy who was leaning against the school's fence.

“What for?”

“Well...it's just... I don't know really.”

Pedro wasn't looking at Davi as if he have found something very interesting on the ground.

“I'm sorry.”– Davi said, and that finally made the younger boy face Davi, without, however, saying anything in response.

“I... it always happens, I'm really sorry, just...” – Davi gestured with nervous hands. He stopped for a moment seeing that Pedro kept his expression neutral, took a deep breath, and said the first thing that came to mind. — “I am a tapir.”

“And I am Pedro.”

Davi was astonished, his mouth open, while Pedro let out a muffled giggle.

“Only you would do such a thing.” - The mother stroked her son's tangled hair. – “You did good apologizing. So now you guys are friends?”

“Yea! He's my first friend!” – The boy said innocently, to which the mother looked with some dismay. Her little angel was always smiling, energetic, curious, and prone to getting hurt, she didn't know if she was happy with that prospect. – “Can I go play outside?”

“Of course my angel, but be back in time for lunch!”

The front door slammed before the mother finished speaking. It was going to be a big day - she thought.

Davi was always running. His mother said that as soon as he had taken his first little step, the next minute he was already running around the house. For Davi everything was too fast, so much to see in such a short time, he didn't like to run, but it was necessary. Pedro was the first thing that ever had been able to stop him.

In Ribeirão das Dores, there were about a thousand people, as far as Davi had counted. He knew almost everyone's name. In the morning, before returning to class, Davi asked Pedro where he lived, who replied: “With the Pelegrini's.”

Davi stopped in front of a gate and looked at the house where Pedro lived. It was the best house in the community, the biggest. The people of Ribeirão liked colors, all the houses, even the poorest, were colored, but the Pelegrini house was pure white.

Still stunned, Davi remained in front of the house, hoping to see Pedro somewhere.

“What are you doing there, boy?” - Asked a man with a bulging belly, glossy mustache, and riding boots.

“I'm looking for Pedro.” – Davi replied immediately. There was no point in lying. Though he's already been shooed out of a few other places once, or twice – maybe three – times.

The man ruminated as he smoothed his bushy whiskers, peering at the lanky figure that was Davi.

“Who are your parents kid?”

“I’m Lourdez’ son, from the river's low.” – Davi replied.

“Dona Lourdez, great woman! Even better at cooking!” – The man said pompously, letting out a laugh at the end. – “Say boy, are you going to have her treats at the Festival today?”

“Yes, sir, she spent the whole morning doing it!” – Davi said proudly. The money his mother would get at the festival was “to get through the month”, which was much more than what she was paid for doing other people's laundry.

“Look boy, Pedro can't go out now, but I'll take him to the festival, you can meet him there.” - Said the man opening the gate.

Davi watched the man, who locked the gate and waved goodbye.

It felt like the night would never arrive. For Davi, time had never passed so slowly, yet he resigned himself to looking at the hill that stood out on the horizon, hoping that the sun would go down soon.

“Dazin, come here!” - Davi's mother's voice brought him out of his lethargy.

“I'm here!” – Davi replied, running to meet her.

“It was so quiet 'round here, I thought you left without telling me.” – The mother said as she arranged the cakes wrapped in the banana leaf in the baskets. – “Get ready and we're going to the plaza.”

After putting on his best slipper, the boy ran back to his mother, who handed him four small wicker baskets, while she herself carried three large baskets.

The Santa Barbara Festival was Davi's favorite, as it was at night, with all the lamps lit, the colors of the surrounding houses became even more vibrant.

In Dona Tança's tent, with which Davi's mother shared, it was already up. Davi helped his mother organize the lace linings on the trays so that he could put the cakes out for sale. It was barely finished, and Davi was already running

through the tents, looking for Pedro.

Davi caught sight of the mustached man he'd been talking to that morning, but no sign of Pedro, when a hand grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him away. From the size of the hand, Davi already knew who it was.

“Hey Hey hey.” – Davi complained. – “Where are you going?”

“I cannot be late.” – Pedro whispered in a hurry. – “Mr. João gave me just a few minutes

for me to buy something and come back.”

“Le'go to my mom's tent! Her cake is the best!”

Pedro shook his head in exasperation, looking around, left something in Davi's hand, and ran back to whom Davi would later learn was João Pelegrini. Davi got upset, he wanted to enjoy the festival with his new friend, he returned discouraged to his mother's tent, sulking in a corner the boy looked at what Pedro had given him. It was a thread bracelet, the boy smiled, apparently green was his new favorite color.

Years later, memories of that childhood would turn bittersweet, before disappearing in a spiral of fractals. But for eight years, which went by too quickly for the likes of Davi, the two boys were no longer seen one without each other.

Even though he changed schools the following year, Davi met Pedro every day, after all the school was right at the end of the same street as Pedro's school. Davi

accompanied Pedro back and forth, and, with increasing frequency, he managed to get Pedro to sneak out of the Pelegrini's house and go play elsewhere.

Pedro was Davi's first friend, and the only one for a long time. No other child could keep up with Davi's outbursts, he talked too much, too loudly, about things his peers weren't interested in, but Pedro always listened to him with a twinkle in his eyes. Davi was sometimes afraid, that Pedro would just tolerate him because maybe he felt lonely, as no one approached the younger boy either, but Pedro would hold his friend's hand when he wanted to say something, and soon Davi was the one who was fascinated.

Pedro, at first, was of few words, and Davi didn't push. Anything new the older boy learned, he would rush to tell Pedro. And, over time, Pedro began to do the same.

When Davi felt the first wave of energy release from his body, like a shock that coursed through his body and echoed like thunder, he panicked, and he avoided Pedro for a week, until Pedro found him hiding behind an Ipê on top of the hill where they always played together.

“Did I do something wrong?” – Pedro asked sadly and Davi began to cry unrestrained.

“N-no. I, it's me...” - Davi tried to say through sobs.

“You can tell me, after all, I am your best friend.” – Pedro said and Davi at the same time was speechless.

A best friend! – Davi even forgot the problem that was troubling him. In all of his twelve years, Davi had never had a best friend, so he was ecstatic.

“So?” – Pedro asked when his friend was slow to react.

“I have this… this thing, what kind does “pow” and “pan”, and when it's big does it “kapow”?”

“Are you asking me if yourself have a gun?” – Pedro looked at his friend without understanding anything at all.

“No!” - Davi yelled embarrassed.

Looking around, just in case, Davi closed his eyes in concentration as Pedro watched. Pedro felt something like a breath, but as the breeze intensified, he realized that it wasn't just that, until he heard crackling, first lows, like branches breaking, and then louder until they sounded like a "kapow". Davi opened his eyes, waiting for his friend's reaction.

“That's it?”

“What do you mean 'this is it'?” - Davi asked perplexed. “I have this…this thingy that makes noise, like, is it some entity trying to communicate?”

Pedro even tried, but he couldn't contain the laugh that possessed him, and the more the boy laughed, the more confused and embarrassed Davi was. When Davi was already radiating his annoyance, Pedro stopped and took a deep breath.

The next moment, the earth in front of Pedro was churning and shaping into a heap that vaguely resembled a house, or Davi thought it was a house, he had never seen a house with a conical roof.

“Get it now?” – Pedro asked.

“But…no, my thingy is different from yours.”

“Let's sit down and I'll explain.”

Then, with they both protected under the Ipê's canopy, Pedro, for the first time, told about the place where he came from, and what was the “thingy” that Davi had.

Pedro came from a community called Itapuã, there were not many of them, and they lived in an area that was difficult to access, on top of a cliff. His name was Pedro Malaquias, but when the Pelegrini adopted him they took his parents' name away and he became Pedro Pelegrini.

Davi wanted to know where Pedro's parents were, but as his friend didn't bring it up, he decided not to ask.

In the community, everyone had this ability, to control earth, some controlled sand, most could build things with just that skill, others couldn't, but they could modify the constitution of the soil, make it fluffier or more consistent. And

so, all of Itapuã was built. Davi thought in awe, how would a place like this be, full of people with the same “thingy”. Pedro corrected him, it wasn't a "thingy", it was like a power, a man in the community had gone to the

big city once and came back full of junk, but also with books, and terms from the city, he says that everyone there had some kind of power, and that they were called “Turra”, which the people of Itapuã laughed, because in their

language “turra” was what they called a stubborn person.

“Turra...” - Davi sighed. – “Then there are others like that!”

“Yes.” – Pedro replied with a sad smile.

From then onwards, the meetings between the two friends, instead of playing games, they

were dedicated to learning to control their powers.

Davi's mother found out about her son's power, he didn't tell her, even a year after discovering the ability. So she told Davi that most of the people of Rio das Dores had similar power, and when the boy asked why no one used power, the mother gave the last answer Davi could have ever thought: their power couldn't be used for anything useful.

“My power is not useless!” – Davi shouted, walking agitatedly from one side to the other in front of Pedro, who remained impassive, sitting under the Ipê. – “It isn't!”

“Of course it is not.” – Pedro tried to calm his friend down, but the other was practically fuming, so he gave up.

“There must be a way! I already control it well, but there must be a way to get better, to be of some use.”

Despite not answering, Pedro was left with the idea ruminating in his mind.

“Hurry up, you tapir!” – The smaller boy whispered loudly as he dragged Davi through the dark streets still lifeless in a September dawn.

“Pedro, the sun hasn't even risen, for lord's sake!” – Davi whispered back, which in his style was the same thing as screaming.

"But do you know what day it is?" – Pedro retorted with a sly smile, when Davi's eyes sparkled with joy, and another emotion that Pedro didn't know yet, Pedro continued. – “Today, when the first sunlight hits the Ipê at the top of the

hill, it will shine in two different colors! Isn't that amazing?”

“Oh. That.” – Davi withered a little.“Let's go!”– Pedro pretended not to notice his friend's joy fading, and smiled to himself, everything was according to plan.

Davi had always been the taller of the two, but six years after their first bump, he was almost a foot taller. Pedro, thirteen years old now, had barely grown up since he was ten years old. And that went into the list of things Davi and Pedro didn't have in common. Davi was also slender, but he kept saying that he would like to be stronger like Pedro, which Pedro replied by asking if Davi was calling him fat, to which Davi just replied yes, and that Pedro was very, very handsome.

“Tired?” – Davi asked, taking his friend out of his reverie.

“Why?” – Pedro looked confused, they were almost at the top of the hill.

“You're all red.” – Davi pointed it out.

Pedro felt his face burning with embarrassment, and he walked even faster up the hill, the sun touching the Ipê canopy just ahead. The boy walked, picking up the basket he had left under the Ipê, removing a lining from it and spreading the cloth on the ground.

When Davi finally caught up with him, Pedro was already seated, arranging trays of sandwiches, sweets, and a chocolate cake. Davi felt tearing up.

“You don't need to get all emotional. You know very well that this Ipê have just one and only color.”

“Did you prepare all this for me?” – Davi said with his voice almost a whisper, which was impressive for Pedro, Davi never really whispered.

“Of course not, I made it all for myself, it's just a coincidence that it's your fifteenth birthday.”

“Yea, right.” – Davi said throwing himself next to Pedro, and almost dropping everything in the process. Pedro wanted to be angry, but there was no way he could be angry with Davi smiling at him as if he had put all the stars in the sky. – “What's the special occasion then? You didn't wake me up at dawn just to have a snack, right?”

“Okay, I will grant you. Happy birthday to you tapir.” – Pedro muttered, crossing his arms, until Davi threw himself on top of him, holding him in an embrace that ooked more like an attempt at strangulation.

“I love you!” – Davi said, amber eyes fixed on emerald eyes.

"I..." Pedro couldn't answer, and probably never would. He had already heard a few things from his adoptive father, because he was always with Davi. But... Of course Davi wasn't talking about it that way, it was a platonic way, Pedro

concluded, best friends love, that's it. – “I have been doing some research.”

Davi motioned for Pedro to continue as he took a generous slice of the cake set in front of him.

“There is a school, in a town called Carapiúna, which is just for Turras. – Pedro continued.”

“Carapiuna? Where is it? It's not a big city's name.” – Davi said after swallowing the cake.

“Carapiúna! It used to be a small town, now it's modernized, and it is quite far away, but the school is good, it is the only one of its kind around here, but it has it all over the world.” – Pedro continued the explanation.

"Only for Turras?"

“Yeah, with classes to control powers, develop, and even find a role or profession.”

“You didn't make it all up, did you?” – Davi looked at his friend, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

“Of course not! I was thinking…” Pedro swallowed. – “We could go there to study.”

“Is it a rich people thing?” – Davi asked, still hesitant.

“No, you just need to pass a test.”

“So easy?”

“It is the toughest test in the country, but yes.”

Davi took a deep breath and held out his pinky to his friend, who rolled his eyes.

“Promise me that one day, we'll both go to this school, what do you call it?”

“Setemptrionalem.” – Pedro intertwined his little finger with his friend's. – “I promise.”

Davi

relaxed, and let the breath he'd been holding return, smiling at Pedro, and

turning his attention to a sandwich, not letting go of his friend's pinky.

And so, Davi

had a new dream to achieve, anything would be possible with his best friend by

his side.

“Hurry up,

Pedro!” – Davi said dragging his friend through the streets in the early

morning of March. He had sneaked out, and waited for Pedro for hours in front

of his house's gate.

"What

is this rush for?" – Pedro knew very well what day it was, and he smiled

when he thought that two years ago he himself had done something similar to Davi.

“You know

today is a special day.” – Davi said smiling, his eyes shining, he wanted it to

be perfect. – “When the first sunlight hits our Ipê, it will shine in two

colors, wasn't it?”

Pedro felt

his face burn, flushing at the memory that he had said that to Davi too, and he

walked faster to catch up with his friend.

It felt

like no time had passed, that they were still two brats running wild wherever

they went. But at fifteen, time seems to run different, Pedro thought to

himself.

Arriving at

the top of the hill, the sun had not even risen. Davi had already put the

picnic, and Pedro laughed, his friend was always too eager to do things.

When Pedro

finally sat down, Davi was grinning like a madman, hands behind him. Pedro knew

that Davi wanted to give him a gift, for which Pedro insisted that friendship

was the greatest gift he could ever want. Davi had laughed a little but nodded

effusively. Of course, that wouldn't stop him from doing something meaningful. Davi

then showed the gift, a tiara of flowers.

“I know

I've gotten you into a lot of trouble.” – Davi said, with his hands shaking a

little. – “And you have no idea how much it means to me, you have been by my

side all this time.”

“You were

always the most emotional of this relation...” - Pedro began to say. – “Friendship.”

“And yet

you stayed. You are my first friend, and my best friend. And today, when the Ipê

does not shine two colors, I crown you, my prince.”

Pedro stood

motionless as Davi smoothed the tiara over his hair. What that meant, Pedro

tried to understand, but his heart insisted on roaring louder than his

thoughts.

Davi then

hugged him tight, something that has become less rare in recent years. The

tallest boy has always been the most affectionate.

“I love

you.” – Davi whispered. And Pedro didn't know what to say.

“Of course,

I'm your best friend.” – That was it, wasn't it?, Pedro thought, just as a best

friend.

Davi

stopped the hug and walked away, and Pedro felt inner inside it wasn't that.

Davi threw himself back to his place under the Ipê. Every second of silence

that followed only added to the fear that haunted Pedro.

Someone had

already made a rumor about them, and Pedro's adoptive father had punished him,

even when the boy denied it and swore that none of it was true, Senhor João

said it was a prior corrective, so he would remember not to do no acts of

depravity while under his roof and name.

Pedro

wanted to say that he wasn't afraid, of not having a house to live, or a name,

but that wouldn't be true. He wanted to think that as long as he had a friend,

everything would be okay. But Mr João was perhaps more intelligent than he let

on, as he made an even bigger threat than physical violence. If he found out

about anything about that, instead of punishing Pedro, he would do it to Davi.

Pedro

wasn't able to sacrifice his material possessions, but above all he couldn't

and would not let Davi suffer any harm.

If Davi

felt something for him, if he reciprocated, it could only end in tragedy. This

was not what Pedro wanted to spend his fifteenth birthday thinking about.

Pedro

hadn't talked to Davi for a week, and it wasn't because they weren't seeing

each other, they saw each other every day at school. But every time Davi

approached, Pedro almost ran from him. Davi could not understand. Just last

Sunday they were together on the hill, laughing and talking nonsense. Well, Davi

was talking nonsense, and Pedro was laughing.

Was it

really? Davi tried to remember. Maybe not laughing laughing, but smiling? A

little bit. Now Davi was worried. Perhaps something had happened at the

Pelegrini house. Maybe they finally got tired of Davi taking so much time away

from Pedro. Davi's thoughts spiraled, but only one person could clear his

doubts, and to talk to Pedro he would have to ambush him.

So that was

it. Davi looked at the bracelet he had been carrying with him for eight years,

he could feel his chin drenched with tears. Disheartenned, he returned home,

and buried his face in the pillow, still clutching the bracelet, as if somehow

those intertwined green lines could free him from that anguish. What could have

gone so wrong?

Pedro was

gone. That was it. After three whole days without seeing even a shadow of his

friend, he went to the Pelegrini house, perhaps Pedro was ill. That would

explain why he had avoided him so many days in a row. That was it. That could

only be it. But then Mr. João Pelegrini informed him, over the intercom, that

Pedro had gotten a scholarship to study at a school in a city that Davi no

longer remembered the name.

How? Why? Davi

didn't understand, couldn't understand, as his best friend, his only friend, he

could have left like that, without giving an explanation, not even a goodbye.

And the promise they had made? Had it meant nothing to Pedro? The more Davi

thought, the more it hurt. To think that...

Pedro

hadn't said it back. Two years earlier, under the Ipê that was practically

theirs, Pedro had not said that he loved him. Of course, Davi at the time

hadn't thought of it as a romantic confession, but still, he hoped that one day

Pedro would say it. He waited for Pedro to say when Davi rolled down the hill

because of a very strong wave of energy he had released, and with his arms

around Davi, the taller boy waited for Pedro to say. Davi waited for Pedro to

say the three words when someone insulted Pedro and Davi, for the first time,

wich was countered with a punch, only getting him to take an even harder punch

back, and while Pedro took care of his swollen eye, and holding his hand, Davi

was hoping Pedro would tell him not to get into this kind of mess, because he

loved him, and he didn't want him to get hurt.

Pedro never

said. Even when on Pedro's fifteenth birthday, when Davi made a tiara of

flowers for his friend. The birthday, which had been a month ago. And when the

sun hit the first lights on the hill, and Davi crowned Pedro his prince, Davi

really thought Pedro would respond, even when Davi repeated that he loved him

and hugged him tight, Pedro didn't say anything back.

And a month

later--thirty-three days, seventeen days after the last time they spoke, Pedro

had abandoned him. Perhaps Davi was exaggerating. Maybe Pedro would send a

letter explaining everything. Maybe he would come back soon, maybe on vacation.

And everything would be resolved. Everything was going to be fine.

Pedro

didn't come back. Davi burrowed himself into books, to study for the Setemptrionalem

entrance exam, and other random stuff, just to distract his thoughts, and he

discovered his passion for reading.

Davi

already knew when the application for the entrance exam would start, so he

saved some money so that he could go to Vila de Sant’ana to apply online. Six

months later he would sit quivering with anticipation to answer the ENCC's 200

questions. And with two more months, he would go to Carapiúna, with his

mother's blessing, and trust in his eyes. Until that moment, in his eighteen

years, Davi had refused to see the negative side of things. Even when his world

had fallen apart and he had no one else as a friend, he still had hope that

things would work out, that one day it would be just as he dreamed. He didn't

know his world could be destroyed, in every way.

Davi had

been overjoyed with his grade, it had been so long since he'd been really happy

– a year, nine months, and twenty-one days, to be precise. The pop-up wasn't

even flashy, “Viper spreads terror in Igaratí”. Davi didn't thought twice

before clicking on the news. The images were of total destruction, as Davi had

just skimmed the headline, he hadn't read that "Viper" was a bomb,

the realization only hit him when he recognized his burning school, so he

searched, and found, a list of places affected, among them were six small

towns, including local communities, the death toll was still being counted, but

the name of Rio das Dores was there.

The boy ran

out the door of the lan-house, as soon as he reached the sidewalk his world blacked

out, everything just disappeared, and he'd like to have disappeared too.

When he

regained consciousness, Davi found himself in a white room, it didn't quite

look like a hospital room, but everything was white and that shouldn't be a

good sign. Davi tried to get up, a little too quickly, only to fall back onto

the bed, his legs trembling and a sharp pain in the back of his neck.

Agonizing

minutes passed, then two men entered the room, Davi would have tensed every

muscle in his body if it obeyed him. One was an elderly man, wearing suspenders

and a red bow tie, dark glasses not allowing him to see his eyes, so Davi

deduced that the old man was blind. The other was younger, no more than forty

years old, tall, athletic, his face was strong but friendly, with an affable

smile, as he was wearing a window and a stethoscope, Davi deduced that he was a

doctor.

“Where I

am?” – Davi asked with a shaky voice.

“At a

private clinic.” – The doctor replied. – “I'm the resident physician, you can

call me Salomão.”

“And I am

Fausto.” – The older man spoke. Despite his age, his voice was young, strong

and cheery. – “How are you, my dear?”

As Davi

looked at the two in confusion, without giving an answer, Salomão took a card

and explained the situation to the younger boy:

“Mr. Fausto

found you lying on the street and called us, an ambulance picked you up, we did

some tests and checked your identity.” – Salomão said, his voice candid and his

eyes fixed on Davi. – “Due to your situation, we'll keep you a few days under

observation.”

So far Davi

had understood, in a way. But when he thought about what he would do when he

got out of the hospital, Davi remembered that he had nowhere to go back, and he

began to shiver.

The doctor

handed him a glass of water and some medicine, which Davi took without

hesitation, and a minute later he was already sleepy. He heard Salomão say that

a nurse would be in charge of him, but the voice came as if Davi were submerged

in a river, so he blacked out and slept for the rest of the day.

Davi did

not realize how many days passed. Every day a nurse, Damasceno, would come, ask

some questions and give Davi some medicine. Salomão did not come every day.

Losing track of the days, the idea of going home was less and less frequent,

until Davi no longer thought about it.

Other

thoughts came to haunt Davi. His community on fire, the smell of smoke, the

screams, his mother just one more body on the count. Davi wasn't there, but the

dreams seemed more and more real, and some days he woke up screaming. After

that, some strange ideas surrounded Davi's foggy mind, something about revenge,

and a big plan, and changing the world.

One day, Davi

was sitting on a terrace, talking animatedly with Salomão, as if they had been

friends for many years. Salomão explained concepts about evolution and how it

would be possible to expand the capacity of powers to a new level. Davi

listened fascinated. Salomão's eyes always shining, one ruby eye, one golden.

"What's

your power?" – Davi asked, something he hadn't paid attention to so far.

“I can see

the future.” – Salomão said, looking a little embarrassed. – “But I can only

see the future of other people, and only if I look into their eyes.”

“That's why

you're a doctor!” – Davi concluded. – “It must be very useful, you can save a

lot of people with its power.”

“Yes,

that's how I used to think too.”

Both were

silent. Which was a rare thing. When another thought hit Davi. What is my

power? Davi then felt a twinge in the back of his neck, and the thought faded.

Days turned

into weeks, and months. Davi just knew he was in the hospital. And that Salomão

was his friend. The nurse still came every day for check-ups. Salomão also came

to pick him up and take him to the garden, or to the terrace, where they spent

hours talking.

Salomão one

day told Davi about a project called Cerberus. He explained to Davi about the

shackles of the New Government and how it affected the Turras.

“I mean…” -

Davi was pale. – “They did that on purpose? How could they! Why kill so many

people?”

Davi

couldn't believe what Salomão had told him, but it made sense, with Salomão's

voice echoing in his mind, Davi came to understand more and more how Cerberus

could work. They could create a new world where everyone would have an ability

or power.

Without realizing

it, Davi agreed with everything Salomão said, and more and more Davi got lost

in who he was, or who he should be.

Davi no

longer had nightmares. Now his dreams were filled by a room of mirrors.

Memories appeared in the mirrors, and every time the boy got close, the mirrors

broke into pieces. In his dreams, Davi always tried with all his might to pick

up the pieces and assemble the memories, but every dream he gave up a little,

until he didn't try anymore, and all that existed in the white space of his

memory was shards.

Then, Salomão

gave his last instruction to Davi.

Davi woke

up from a strange dream. In his room, in Setemptrionalem's dormitory, the boy

remained dizzy, his last memory was...

“What

was it again?”

“It

should be what you saw in the last class, right, Davi?”

“Not

that Lucas, I remember that, I was speaking from before that.”

“Before

you were in class, what happened to you man?”

“You're

good for nothing, huh? I’m talking ‘bout before I joined Setemptrionalem...”

“Oh, I

know what's going on!”

“What?”

“It's

because you're getting old. The voice chuckled in her head.”

“Oh yes.

Twenty years.”–

But Davi

didn't remember the last two years. Or even before that. His last memory was...

a tiara of wild flowers, and the face of his best friend.