THE CLOCKWORK WORLD

Chapter IV - Aleph, The Clockwork World

The Cave

Guus could not see the way out of this lengthy staircase. In addition, his stomach was rumbling for quite some time. His last meal was in the morning if they were still the same day since he completely lost track of time, and with the heat and effort, he felt a bit weak. Louie must have noticed his more erratic steps because he stopped following the golem to come to him. Azelle looked in her backpack to give him a cereal bar. He grabbed it and ate it, almost swallowing it whole. A toss of the head from Louie induced the girl to give him a second one. The other boy looked at him with concern but with this small break, he got a bit better. He apologized, yet the boy threw it away with a warm smile which reminded him why people used to gravitate around him and also why people tended to be fooled by him and his sneaky personality.

- Do you need any more food? We'll probably find some supplies to pick up or prepare in the building so you can eat the rest.

Guus shook his head negatively and prepared himself to return to the infinite climb. Louie and Azelle had an unspoken chat before she joined Aho while the young boy stayed with him some meters behind. They walked up in silence, still a bit awkward between each other when they were alone. A gander to the bottom to figure out that they were very high, the building looked smaller from the ground. He was not afraid of heights in general but the climb was dizzying.

- I guess we won't see your father any soon.

Strangely, he had not had any thought about his father since they entered this lift at the Shard and apart from the fact they could not convince him to bury Aion in the Academy, like his family wished to, he did not mind about missing the meeting. This is what he said to Louie who shrugged :

- To be honest with you, I hated your father. I still hate him. I swear even if you can be a dickhead sometimes, and that you were certainly the last person I would spend time with, whenever he shouted at you when we were kids made me think about a thousand ways to murder him.

Guus raised his eyebrows in surprise. Not many people gave empathy to his difficult relationship with his father. The first one was Louie's father, despite his feud with his son. While it had never been enough for Machiel Van de Leegte, Georges Sonnemeaux had always encouraged and congratulated him, even when his son had been behind. While Louie gave him a strong headache for being a thorn in his side, his father gave Guus the love and support he missed for years. Now Louie admitted his hatred toward Machiel and it triggered something in his mind, a strong and familiar sensation he forgot he had since Mr.Sonnemeaux passed away, leaving his three sons on their own.

Warm.

He let a smile fly off his tongue.

- Why are you smiling?

- Nothing. Just... thank you, Louie.

He probably did not understand why but it was not important. They did not get along, and he did not know if they really would be one day, despite what the bas-relief showed in the smaller cave, but he knew he could count on the younger boy.

After this long climb, they finally arrived at the top of the staircase. They entered a large room supported by heavy and engraved columns. The walls were painted with arabesques and dozens of statues stood in a receiving line, guiding to the ark at the other side, where they continued. The second room was more sober. The statues were disposed of differently, in a more random way and the walls were empty from any decoration. At the centre of the room, there was an altar and an old bearded man with a Victorian outfit which contrasted with the antic architecture. When the man saw them, he reached out to them and, as Aho did, he bowed in front of Louie and him before Azelle.

- I am pleased our paths finally crossed, he said with a lilting voice, shaking Louie's hand. Let me introduce myself to you: My name is Mani, and I am the Seer of this world.