At home, I took a bath and looked up the place where I would meet Maia. Abandoned, but I felt at ease. I trusted her.
I headed there. The closer I got, the darker the street became. When I stepped out of the car, the smell of rot filled my nostrils. Chemical waste scattered everywhere. I coughed in the freezing air. Stayed beside the vehicle. Its headlights illuminated the darkness. My fingers moved restlessly. My first time so close to the ground.
The deserted place was on the same level as Netheria. Netheria endured. That part? A forgotten corner of São Paulo. The city's ground, almost uninhabitable, neglected by the Aether Network, Sessota, UNITED, and Kokusai. Only the vertical structures mattered. The floating spaces.
What remained below? Shadows. Paper. Scattered junk. Ruined streets. Not a living soul. Only emptiness. High above, lights glittered in suspended buildings like artificial stars, unreachable to anyone standing on the forgotten ground.
Where are you? I rubbed my hands.
"Hey."
My body stiffened. I shivered at the touch on my shoulder.
"Been waiting long?" The light revealed a smiling Maia.
"No." I smiled back. "But it's a little unpleasant here."
"Sorry about that." She gave a sweet laugh and held out her hand.
"It's okay. I'm more perceptive in my Enchantress phase."
Maia gently squeezed my hand. "Me too… I'm in my Enchantress phase too. We're attuned."
My heart beamed.
We walked toward a long staircase leading to the old Paulista. Old streetlamps. Vacant shops. Intermittent neon signs. Drizzle. Damp air. A gloomy scene.
Yet none of it mattered. All I saw was Maia guiding me. Who knew where. Exactly where I wanted to be.
We reached an intersection. When we turned the corner, my jaw dropped.
The remote, imposing São Paulo Museum of Art. Now in ruins.
A museum that had once held the most important art collection in the Americas. Completely abandoned. Rubble filled its open span of more than seventy meters. Four enormous reddish pillars supported it. Vines and filth dominated, reaching the vandalized entrance. An enormous opening. A destroyed metal staircase. Little light filtered inside.
Thanks to Maia guiding me, I managed to avoid stumbling.
She went around the wreckage, climbing toward the opening with impressive agility. When she reached it, she lay down and lowered her hands. "C'mon." Hair fell over her face. Her hand extended. Maia waited for me.
I understood what she wanted, except my physical stamina was awful. I regretted giving up yoga. Maybe I would take it up again to keep pace with her. Who knew?
"Are you sure?" My fear was obvious.
Maia chuckled, nodding. I sighed. Walked over the wet rubble. As I drew close, she pulled me up. We crouched at the edge of the opening.
Oh, my heart. If I fell, I would hurt myself everywhere.
"Let's go inside." Before I could react, she jumped to the floor below.
THUD! The impact echoed.
My eyes widened. I leaned my head through the opening and looked down.
"You can jump."
Jump? What? She thought I could jump? Ah, this was too much. If I landed wrong, I would break my legs. I mean… perhaps I was exaggerating. Am I seriously doing this? I took a deep breath. Braced myself against the window's edge and slowly pushed one foot inside.
Maia opened her arms. "Trust me? I'll hold you."
What I needed to hear. Enough. Wind cut my skin. The abyss stared back. Yet when I looked at Maia, everything went quiet.
I jumped.
The icy zephyr brushed my face and hair.
Maia's arms wrapped around me. I opened my eyes. Face-to-face with her. Her honey-colored eyes shone in the faint light. She smiled playfully and lowered me to the floor. "See?"
I lowered my eyes. "Show-off."
"Why?"
"Hmm… you're just very confident."
"Trust me. I'll always hold you. I'll always be here." She hugged me and rested her chin on my head.
My heart raced. My cheeks warmed. Being held in such a comforting, safe embrace was a feeling unlike any other. I wanted to stay there forever. I could live in her embrace.
Maia drew away. "Know what happened here?"
I glimpsed a few things in the darkness. The smell of rain, dust, and alcohol was surprisingly pleasant. "I know they moved almost everything to another museum between Zenith and Centrália." I followed, trying to watch my steps.
"Somewhere around here," she whispered to herself. "Ah. Found it."
Tzzt Tzzt Two clicks. Quick. Dry. The sound reverberated.
Everything lit up, and I saw: a pavilion, disordered galleries, a collapsed ceiling, rubble concealing the artworks. Holograms in place of paintings. Violet lights. Pink. Purple. Blue. Contrasting with destruction, ruins, cycles of vandalism, and the weather.
Broken glass crunched beneath my feet. Decades of dust mingled with the damp smell of decay. How much history lay forgotten here? How many works had passed through these walls? How many gazes had met or hidden in the darkness?
Maia led me to the central staircase.
From that height, I contemplated the place, fascinated. Absorbed every detail. "This place's beauty is its chaos."
Her eyes settled on me. I met them with affection. She smiled. Such a warm smile. My heart missed a beat. She had let me glimpse part of her soul. All I knew of that moment was that her warm smile carried an intrinsic sadness. I wanted to cry. Saw so much pain inside her. Hugged her. Even unable to tear that pain away, I wanted to replace it.
Please, let me take care of you. I tightened my embrace.
Maia stroked my hair. "C'mon. It'll happen soon."
I frowned, intrigued.
We walked through the maze to the top and climbed a staircase. Maia pulled open an old metal door. We stepped onto the terrace, where two enormous yellowed water tanks stood. More rubble.
She sat on the ground.
I nestled beside her. "What's going to happen?"
Maia gestured toward the sky. "Keep watching."
I rubbed my cold nose. "You know, the research moved to the next phase. You can stop giving samples. The doctor asked me to thank you. If everything works, it'll help a lot of people."
She gave a faint smile. "That's good."
I gazed at the firmament. Dense clouds. Pollution. Then, slowly, the impossible happened.
A glimpse of the moon.
The silver light of the last-quarter moon fell over us.
Maia's eyes shone. Her white hair gleamed beneath the silvery glow. The icy breeze caressed her hair and face. Droplets settled gently on her skin. Her admiring gaze, her posture leaning toward infinity, her parted lips holding a mixture of passion and fascination. Maia's wild beauty intensified.
My chest tightened. Time dissolved around us, as though only we existed beneath that silver light. Then I realized how much I loved her. How deeply I had fallen for her chaos. For everything. Every part that made her who she was.
"Maia…" I whispered, shocked. "Y-your nose is bleeding."
It took her a moment to react. She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. "Hmm… happens sometimes." Rubbed it again. Blood dripped incessantly.
I handed her a tissue. My heart leaped. Something inside me screamed that this was abnormal.
Maia held the tissue against her bleeding nostril and leaned forward.
Clouds veiled the celestial vault. The moon disappeared.
"I feel like…" Her voice sounded strange with her nose blocked. "You've known me forever. Far beyond this life."
When her gaze passed through the particles of my physical body, it was as though something inside me vibrated in recognition, reaching the depths of my soul. It struck me on a cosmic level. Her words awakened my atoms from a numbness that had lasted all those cycles. My thoughts quieted. I only felt.
I brought my face closer to hers. "I-I feel the same… but what is this? What does it mean?" I rested my forehead against hers. Tell me, please.
Once again, only silence.
I caressed her face. Her hand over mine.
In that moment, I realized something was wrong. Terribly wrong. A feeling I should have paid more attention to. My chest tightened, as though something were tearing apart. Something irreparable. I should have listened to my intuition. I don't know. Perhaps insisted more. Persisted until I had an answer. Because, who knows, if I had…