The white door opened like a mouth that had been waiting too long. Slowly. Without a dramatic creak. Without an exaggerated sound of threat. Just a heavy, mechanical, almost polite movement that revealed a darkness too sharp to be empty. The smell of lily came out first. Cold. Clean. Unacceptable. Selene felt her body refuse the air for one second. Since the cellar beneath her shop, since the wet road, since her mother's locket smoking in a glass, Lily was no longer a scent. It was a white hand pressed over the mouth of the dead. Beside her, Noe stepped back.
— I hate that smell, he murmured.
— Now you know why, Selene said. Eden, masked, stood to her left. Not in front. Not behind. To the left. He had understood that this place was no longer only a ballroom strategy. It was a boundary. A way of saying: I can be here without erasing your field of vision. The port breathed around them. Containers stacked like windowless buildings. Cranes motionless above the black water. Rainbow gasoline puddles under orange lamps. Eden's men covered the angles, weapons low, movements precise. Farther away, the Orsini silhouettes were only shadows between red doors. The white door waited.
— Do not take the first white door, Noe had said. Selene stared at the opening.
— There is only one. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— Visible, Eden said. She turned her head toward him.
— You think there is another one?
— I think your father never phrased anything that simply unless he had a reason to complicate it. Selene almost wanted to laugh.
— Wonderful. Even dead, he writes administrative poetry. The radio crackled. Maelys, channel three.
— I would like to state, for the record, that I am against entering the door that literally smells like floral trauma. In the background, Livia said something muffled. Probably an order to shut up. Maelys resumed:
— Livia is threatening to cut my channel. I consider this censorship. Selene touched her earpiece.
— Stay with me. A tiny silence. Then Maelys answered, less sarcastic:
— Always. Eden signaled two men forward. Selene caught his arm. Not hard. Enough. He froze immediately.
— Wait.
— What? She inhaled despite her disgust. Lily. But underneath... Berries. Very faint. Cold pepper, crushed fruit, metal.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— This is not the right entrance, she said. Noe looked at her.
— You smell something?
— Berries. But not ahead. To the side. Eden followed her gaze. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12To the left of the white door, almost hidden by a stack of pallets, a small gray service door was built into the warehouse sheet metal. It was not white. Not red. Not remarkable. A shiver ran down Selene's back.
— The first white door is a trap, she said. Eden lifted his hand. His men stopped. Behind them, the white door continued opening by itself. In its darkness, something clicked.
Then the white light exploded.
It was not an explosion. Not exactly. A blinding, dry flash, followed by a dull detonation that made the concrete tremble beneath their feet. The white door spat light, smoke, and shards of metal outward. Not enough to kill anyone who had kept their distance. Enough to blind, disorient, and panic. Enough to prove that Dante Orsini enjoyed theatrical warnings. Selene covered her eyes. Eden pulled her against a container before she could see where the movement came from. Not brutally. Not gently. Efficiently. Her back hit cold metal. Her breath stopped.
— Are you all right? he asked. His voice was very close. Too close. Black mask, rain on his shoulders, one hand braced against the container near her head, the other held away from her waist, as if even in an emergency he was stopping himself from touching more. Selene took one second too long to answer.
— Yes.
— Can you see?
— Badly. But well enough to know you are still too dramatic in your rescues. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12A breath moved behind his mask. Almost a laugh.
— I will work on the aesthetic. She lowered her eyes to his hand. He was not touching her. But her body remembered every time he could have. Bad moment. Of course. Bad moments had become their second language.
— You can symbolically let me go, she said.
— I am not holding you.
— Exactly. It is annoying. He moved half a step back. Immediately. Too well. One more thing she did not have time to analyze. The radio spat a voice.
— Two minor injuries. No dead. White door trapped. Movement east side. Eden answered:
— Keep the white door open. No one enters. We go through service. Noe reached them, pale, but standing.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— I told you not to take the white door. Maelys, in the earpiece:
— I hate to admit it, but disaster man scores a point. Noe frowned.
— Did she hear me?
— Everyone hears you, Selene said. Try to say fewer stupid things than usual. He nodded. The small group moved toward the service door. The scent of Berries grew stronger with every step.
— Real entrance, Selene murmured. Eden pressed the badge to the rusted reader. Nothing. Selene took the empty Berries vial she had kept in her pocket. A trace remained at the bottom, barely a scented dampness. She rubbed the neck against the reader. The metal reacted. A red light turned black. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Then green.
The door opened. Behind it, a narrow corridor descended beneath the warehouse. Noe murmured:
— I have been here before. Selene looked at him.
— When?
— With Dad. The day of the red doors.
— What do you remember? He swallowed.
— He told me never to count the white one. Only the red ones. Because the white one is not a door. It is a distraction. Eden went in first this time. Selene did not protest. Not because she was giving in. Because this time, they were entering Orsini territory. And even her pride knew how to recognize enemy ground.
The service corridor smelled of rust, stagnant water, and crushed berries. An absurd smell for a port. Therefore deliberate. The walls were covered with pipes. Some vibrated with a distant rumble, as if the entire warehouse breathed in its sleep. The ceiling lamps flickered at irregular intervals, making faces harder and shadows longer. Noe walked between two men, but Selene stayed close enough to see him. She still wanted to be angry with him. She was angry with him. But watching him move through a corridor he had crossed as a child with their father changed something. Noe had not only been a coward. He had been prepared to become useful without knowing for what. A child turned into a backup. Like her.
— Do you remember a song here? she asked. Noe closed his eyes while walking.
— Not a song. A sound.
— What sound? He tapped two fingers against the pipe beside him. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Tap. Tap tap. Pause. Tap. The same rhythm as on the Lily plate. The pipe answered. Not with a clear sound. With a vibration.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `Selene felt something shift beneath her feet.
— Do it again, she said. Noe did it again. Tap. Tap tap. Pause. Tap. Farther down the corridor, a lock released. Eden turned his head toward him.
— Your father taught you a sound access. Noe gave a nervous laugh.
— And here I thought he was just wasting my time while he talked to the adults.
— Adults often do that, Selene said. They call it keeping children busy when they are really leaving them bombs. The corridor opened into a low room. At the center, five red doors. Not aligned outside as in Noe's memory. Here, they formed a half circle. Each door bore a discreet symbol. Berries. Roses. Fig. Tuberose. Lily. The sixth door, white, was painted directly on the wall. Fake. A painting. A decoy down to the structure itself. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— Dad said to count the red ones, Noe murmured. Selene looked at the five doors.
— Then we count. Eden approached the Berries door.
— Wait. Selene smelled the air. Each door had a signature. Berries bit. Roses bled. Fig hid. Tuberose warmed. Lily erased. But something was wrong.
— This is not an opening order, she said.
— What is it, then? Eden asked. Selene looked at Noe. Then at the half circle.
— A choice of debt. The radio crackled. Dante's voice burst into the room, clear, warm, almost joyful.
— Finally. The Moreaus before the doors. Your father would have been moved, or very ill. Hard to say. He had the complexion of men who know too much. Eden raised his gun toward a camera on the ceiling.
— Dante.
— Veyr. Still so impatient to prove you are the most dangerous man in a room that barely belongs to you. Selene stepped forward.
— Where are you? A laugh.
— Where the Orsini always survive: behind the door other people open for us. The five doors unlocked at once.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `Behind every door, a corridor. Not very long. But each one lit by a different color, almost imperceptible. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Berries: cold white. Roses: dark red. Fig: black green. Tuberose: faded gold. Lily: white light, too pure. Selene understood the trap immediately. Not physical. Not only. They had to choose what they accepted to see. And each choice would take something from them. Dante resumed:
— Only one door leads to the port access. The others lead to useless archives, unpleasant truths, or people you would have preferred to leave out of this. Maelys in the earpiece:
— I hate when villains design escape-room games. Livia, farther away:
— Channel three.
— Yes, yes. Selene stared at the doors.
— He wants us to split up.
— Then we don't, Eden said. Dante laughed.
— Oh, you can stay together. But one of the doors will lock in three minutes. The one that leads to what your father sold. It would be a shame to choose wrong because you were afraid of being alone. A countdown lit up above the doors. 03:00 Noe panicked immediately.
— Which one is it? Selene closed her eyes. Father. Port. Debt. What he sold. Valere had spoken of useful men. Claire had spoken of rooms, of images. Irina had spoken of copies. The notebook had classified people as functions. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Adrien Moreau had served the monsters before creating their flaw. What had he sold? Not scents. Not only. An entrance. Berries.
— Berries, she said. Eden looked at the door.
— Too obvious.
— Exactly. Everyone uses Lily as the final terror. But the blood debt brought us to the port because my father sold an entrance. Dante said: behind the door other people open for us. Orsini did not have the system. They needed an entrance. Noe murmured:
— Dad sold them Berries. The sentence hurt. Selene nodded.
— Or he gave them enough to make them believe they had bought it. 02:11 Eden signaled.
— Berries. All together. Dante sighed through the speakers.
— You become less entertaining when you think.
— Thank you, Selene answered. You become less intimidating when you talk too much. They crossed the Berries door.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `It closed immediately. No way back.
The Berries corridor descended farther. Lower than the level of the port. Lower than logic. White light trembled on the concrete walls. Old rails ran along the floor, rusted remains of a private transport system once used, perhaps, to move safes, merchandise, evidence, or bodies. Selene did not ask. She was not sure she wanted to classify the possibilities. At the end, an armored door. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Engraved into it: ENTRANCE OF THE DEAD. Maelys, earpiece:
— No. Even I think that is excessive. Noe gave a small nervous laugh. Eden pressed the badge against the reader. Nothing. Selene took out the Lily micro-plate.
— Maybe now. He looked at her.
— Are you sure?
— No.
— Welcome to our method, Noe said. She pressed the plate against the reader. A light switched on. Then an old mechanical voice requested:
— Voice sequence. Selene froze. The song. Again. Eden turned his head toward her.
— Do you know it?
— Pieces. Noe took a step.
— Me too. They looked at each other. Brother and sister. Two halves of a weapon their father had hidden in their memories. Selene inhaled.
— When I forget the door... Noe answered, his voice shaking:
— I remember the berry.
— When I forget the heart...
— I remember the rose.
— When I forget where to sleep...
— I remember the fig. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— When I lie to survive... Noe swallowed.
— I remember the tuberose. The mechanical voice waited. The end was missing. Selene closed her eyes. Her mother, in the car: when you smell lily, you will not light the candle. Her father: when she speaks to the dead, remind her that lily does not answer. She opened her eyes.
— And when I speak to the dead... Noe finished:
— Lily does not answer. Silence. Then the mechanical voice said:
— Correction accepted. The door opened.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `Behind it was an archive. Not a vault. Not a mafia cellar. An archive. Metal shelves. Boxes. Discs. Files. And at the center, beneath a bare light, a table with a single document on it. A sales contract. Selene approached. Her father's name was at the bottom. Adrien Moreau. And Dante Orsini senior's. Not Dante. His father. Item sold: Berries Access - secondary port channel - one-time use against family protection. Selene felt her stomach drop. Adrien had sold an entrance. Not for money. For protection. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Family protection.
— He sold Orsini access to protect us from the Veyr, she murmured. Eden read over her shoulder.
— And Orsini resold it to the White Hand. Noe covered his mouth.
— So Dad tried to escape one monster by giving a key to another. Selene closed her eyes. The two truths. Always them. Adrien had wanted to save them. Adrien had opened the road to worse.
In the margin of the contract, a handwritten note had been added. Not Adrien's handwriting. Claire's. You thought you were buying their protection. You sold our exit. Selene placed her fingers near the sentence without touching it. Her mother had known. Long before the road. Long before they turned her into a fragile woman unable to drive in the rain. Claire knew Adrien had yielded. That he had delivered an entrance. That he had, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of love, perhaps out of that tender cowardice of men who try to save their own by compromising with the executioners, condemned the only possible escape. Noe backed up to the wall.
— I wanted him to be innocent. The sentence was small. Ashamed. So had Selene. A part of her had wanted that. Not a perfect father. Just a father they could mourn without having to interrogate him. Eden said:
— He isn't. Noe lifted his head, hurt. Selene raised her hand. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— No. He isn't. She forced herself to look at the contract.
— But that does not mean he is only guilty. Eden stayed silent. He knew that sentence under another form. The two truths must remain together. A camera turned on in the corner of the room. Dante appeared on a wall screen. Not physically live. Settled in an armchair, red mask pushed up into his hair, a calm smile on his face.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— There, he said. The little family in front of the father's sin. Touching. Almost profitable. Eden raised his weapon.
— Where are you?
— Too far for your anger, close enough for your pride. Selene stepped toward the screen.
— Why show us this? Dante smiled.
— Because Althea gave you a dead mother. Valere gave you secrets. I am giving you a commercial truth. It is cleaner.
— What do you want?
— The same thing as everyone. An ending where my family does not pay alone for a war the Veyr sold as tradition.
— So you are helping us? He laughed.
— No. I am orienting you. It is less noble and much more profitable. Selene felt Eden tense.
— Talk, Eden said. Dante tilted his head slightly.
— The Berries contract proves that your father sold an entrance to the Orsini. But page two proves who requested that sale. Selene turned the document over. Nothing. Then she saw the double thickness. A sheet hidden between two layers. Eden drew a thin knife and opened it with precision. Inside, a letter. Althea's handwriting. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Adrien will yield if Claire is threatened. Offer him Orsini as an exit. He must believe he is betraying the Veyr, not that he is still serving us. The room turned glacial. Dante smiled.
— Your father was not only weak. He was guided toward the most useful weakness. Selene looked up. Althea had manipulated Adrien into giving Berries to the Orsini. Then she had used that betrayal to launch Lily against Claire. A perfect loop. A trap that gave every victim enough guilt to be ashamed of screaming.
— How long have you had this proof? Selene asked. Dante looked at her through the screen.
— Long enough to be innocent of nothing. Not long enough to be useful.
— Coward's answer. He smiled wider.
— Your father would have appreciated it.
— Do not talk about him as if you earned the right to soil him. He managed that by himself. This time, Dante's smile did not quite hold. Eden, meanwhile, looked at her. Selene was no longer searching for a pure father. Maybe that was what everyone expected from her: the daughter ready to excuse, the daughter ready to collapse, the daughter who would confuse nuance with forgiveness. No. She could hold the two truths without releasing anyone from their debt. Dante resumed:
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— Althea is coming. Eden turned toward the entrance.
— Where?
— To the port. She left Ashfall three minutes after you did. Your little blood debt irritated her more than expected. Maelys in the earpiece:
— Confirmed. Althea left the room. Livia is saying a lot of swear words in a very distinguished manner. Livia took the channel.
— Two unauthorized Veyr vehicles have left Ashfall. Direction: port. She has men still loyal to her. Eden swore. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Noe went pale.
— She is coming here? Selene looked at the letter.
— No. She is coming to destroy what remains. Dante sighed.
— And this is where I offer a deal. Eden answered immediately:
— No.
— You really are predictable. It is almost soothing. Selene lifted her hand.
— What deal? Eden turned his head toward her.
— No.
— I want to hear it.
— It is Orsini.
— And your mother is coming with armed men. I collect bad options. Dante clapped slowly. The sound came through the screen, ridiculous and irritating.
— I like the Moreau girl very much. She knows morality is sometimes only a luxury one buys after surviving.
— The deal, Dante.
— I give you the port exit, copies of this contract, and the name of the White Hand man who drove the gray car on your mother's road. In exchange, Noe comes with me. Selene felt everything close. Noe stepped back. Eden raised his gun toward the screen.
— No. Dante looked at Noe.
— The brother owes the Orsini a debt. A stolen briefcase. A dead man. A lot of agitation. I could ask for his blood. I am only asking for his memory.
— What does that mean? Noe asked.
— It means you still have something in your head that your father left at the port. And I am willing to keep you whole long enough to retrieve it. Selene felt rage rise.
— You will not have him. Dante tilted his head.
— Then Althea will have the room, the letter, the archives, and perhaps your brother once she is done going around me. Choose quickly. Monstrous mothers are rarely patient. The screen cut out. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12[AUDIO - screen shutting off, electric silence]
` }, { kind: "body", html: `Noe was livid.
— I will go. Selene turned toward him.
— No.
— Selene...
— I said no.
— I am the one they want.
— You are doing it again.
— No, this time I can be useful for once.
— Exactly. You are still confusing being useful with handing yourself to the first man who knows how to press on your guilt. Noe absorbed it. But this time, he did not collapse.
— Then what do we do? It was the right question. Finally. Not: save me. Not: let me sacrifice myself. What do we do? Selene looked at Eden.
— We let him believe Noe accepts. Eden answered:
— Too risky.
— Yes.
— Dante will see the trap.
— Maybe.
— Althea is coming.
— Exactly. She approached the table and took the Berries contract, Althea's letter, and the Lily micro-plate.
— Althea wants to destroy the archives. Dante wants Noe. Valere wants us to finish the sequence. The White Hand wants no one to speak. So we stop defending every piece separately. Eden watched her.
— You want to put them in the same room.
— No. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Selene looked at the false white door painted on the wall, visible in the distance from the corridor.
— I want to make them believe the same room exists. Maelys, in the earpiece:
— I love when you become worrying, but please explain for those of us who are not inside your head. Selene inhaled.
— Dante thinks the debt is Noe. Althea thinks the proof is here. Valere thinks the sequence leads to the final opening. We send each of them a different version of the same information: the white door contains what they want. Eden understood.
— The trapped door outside.
— It already exploded.
— Flash only. Structure intact. Noe said:
— We lure them toward the distraction.
— Exactly. Eden looked at Selene.
— And us?
— We leave through the real Berries entrance with the proof.
— That will not be enough. They will control the exits. Selene looked at Noe.
— You said Dad made you count the red doors. Five outside. Five inside. There is an exit between the two. Noe closed his eyes. He searched. Truly. Not like someone inventing. Like someone digging through a sabotaged childhood.
— The water, he said at last.
— What?
— He showed me the doors, then he said, "If you forget the colors, listen to the water." I thought he meant the boats. Eden looked at the rails on the floor.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— Underground channel.
— Beneath the archive? Selene asked. He crouched, passed a hand over the floor.
— The rails continue down behind the shelves. Maelys:
— Great. Sewer-port exit. Officially the worst Airbnb in the world. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Despite herself, Selene let out a dry laugh. Short. Nervous. Alive. Eden gave his orders. False message to Dante. False escape toward the white door. Block Veyr channels. Immediate copy of the evidence to Livia. Extraction by the water channel if passable. The plan was bad. But for the first time, it was not someone else's plan.
Behind the shelves, the wall was not a wall. A sliding panel, jammed by rust, concealed a descent toward an old loading dock. Eden and two men had to force the mechanism. The air that came out of the opening was colder, loaded with water and silt. Selene shone a light inside. A metal staircase descended toward an underground canal. Black. Narrow. A maintenance boat was tied below, almost invisible in the shadow.
— Your father really was very dramatic, Eden said. Selene answered:
— At least now I know where I get it. Noe gave a small laugh. Then gunshots sounded above.
The radio exploded with voices.
— Exterior contact! Two Veyr vehicles! Orsini north side! Althea and Dante were arriving at the same time. Perfect. Horrible. Planned. Selene tightened the file against herself. Eden handed her a waterproof pouch. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— Evidence inside.
— I can carry a file without instructions.
— It is raining, we may take on water, and I have a pathological tendency to want evidence not to dissolve.
— Your logistical pathology is accepted. She slipped the documents into the pouch. Noe went down first with a guard. Then Selene. The steps were slippery. Halfway down, she almost fell. Eden caught her by the forearm. He let go the second she found her balance.
— Sorry.
— For stopping me from ending up in black water?
— For grabbing without asking. She looked at him in the dark. The world was pulling. Men were shooting above them. Althea was coming. Dante was double-playing. The archives might burn. And Eden was apologizing for a survival reflex. She wished it did not touch her.
— In this very specific case, she said, I grant you very limited retroactive permission.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— Noted.
— Do not smile under your mask. I can hear it.
— I am not smiling.
— Lie. The canal was icy. The maintenance boat barely held steady on the black water. Eden checked the engine. Above them, a heavier sound rang out. An explosion. Not the flash from the white door. More real. Closer.
Noe looked up.
— Did they open the white door? Eden answered:
— Or they are fighting over who gets the right to do it. Selene climbed into the boat. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12The radio crackled. Maelys almost shouted:
— Bad news. Valere is at the port. He just appeared on an exterior camera. Light suit, immortal cockroach energy. Selene closed her eyes. Of course. He was the only thing missing.
The boat engine coughed three times before agreeing to live. Selene sat at the front, evidence pouch against her. Noe sat across from her, soaked, pale, but focused. Eden stayed at the back, one hand on the engine, the other near his weapon. The underground tunnel swallowed them.
Above them, the port kept fighting. Here, everything became older. Wet stone. Salt smell. Rust. And sometimes, a thread of Berries. As if Adrien had marked the path years earlier knowing his children would one day descend this corridor of water to repair what he had broken. Noe said:
— I remember something.
— Say it, Selene answered.
— Dad asked me what I would do if someone offered to save one person by betraying another.
— What did you answer?
— That I would save the person I loved most. Selene felt her throat tighten.
— And him?
— He said: "That is how they win." The engine vibrated. Eden did not speak. But Selene felt the sentence reach him too. Choosing through love could become the strongest leash. Althea knew it. Dante too. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Valere most of all.
— Then we do not choose like that, Selene said. Noe looked at her.
— How? She watched the black water.
— We choose what breaks the system, not what calms our fear. Eden said:
— That is a dangerous sentence.
— All useful sentences are. The radio crackled again. Livia.
— Valere has bypassed the white door. I repeat, Valere is not in the trap. He is descending toward a secondary access. Possibly yours. Eden swore. The tunnel split in front of them. To the left, a faint red light. To the right, total darkness. On the wall, two symbols. Roses on the left. Lily on the right. Maelys, quieter:
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— I know my opinion is unprofessional, but left reeks of emotional trap and right reeks of death. Selene looked at both paths. Her father had said: if you forget the colors, listen to the water. She closed her eyes. On the left, the water was almost silent. On the right, it breathed. Real current. Exit.
— Right, she said. Noe blanched.
— Lily.
— Lily does not answer, Selene reminded him. But the water does. Eden turned the boat into the darkness.
Behind them, a voice suddenly echoed in the tunnel. Not by radio. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12In the air. Valere.
— Always listen to the water, Mademoiselle Moreau. Your father said that too before he begged. Eden raised his weapon. Valere was behind them, on a side platform, light suit even in the humidity, pistol in hand. He fired.
The boat lurched. Selene lost the pouch. Noe threw himself over it. Eden fired back. The tunnel became noise, water, and metal.
Eden's first shot struck the stone near Valere. The second sent a piece of metal flying above his shoulder. Valere stepped back, still wearing that unbearably calm smile, as if violence were a conversation he knew how to punctuate.
— Eden, he shouted. Your mother will be disappointed. You are running away with a woman again instead of finishing what you start. Eden stiffened. Selene saw it. Even in the chaos. The notebook had been right. Guilt. Jealousy. Shame. Valere knew the buttons.
— Eden, she said. He did not turn his head. Valere continued:
— Irina died because you were too young. Claire because Adrien was too weak. How many more women will it take for you to understand that you protect nothing? You delay. Eden's hand tightened on his gun. Selene released the edge of the boat and caught his wrist. This time, without asking.
— Look at me. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— Not now.
— Now. At last, he looked at her. The mask hid his face, but not the state of his eyes. He was almost gone. Not mad. Not out of control. Worse: becoming exactly functional for the trap.
— He is writing you, she said.
— What?
— Valere. He is writing you a reaction. Are you going to give it to him? A shot struck the hull. Noe swore. Maelys shouted in the earpiece. Livia barked instructions. Selene did not let go of Eden's wrist.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— To the left. He stopped. Then moved. To the left. Dante observed the movement with visible interest.
— Fascinating. She really trains you better than your mother did. Eden raised his weapon. Selene spoke before him.
— You wanted Noe. You will not have him. Dante looked at Noe, soaked, shaking, but standing.
— He opened the valve? Noe blinked.
— Yes.
— Ah. Dante almost seemed satisfied.
— Then he is beginning to repay differently. Selene clutched the pouch against herself.
— You promised the name of the White Hand man on my mother's road.
— I promised if deal. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— No. You offered an impossible deal to push us toward the water exit, because you knew Valere was coming down. You did not want Noe. Not really. You wanted him to open the valve. Dante's smile changed. Less playful. Sharper.
— Very good. She follows. Eden turned his head toward her. Selene did not look at him. She was staring at Dante.
— Why?
— Because that valve had been blocked for fifteen years by a Moreau lock. Orsini could open the entrance, not the exit. Your brother carried the rhythm. You carried the correction. Together, you reopened the channel. Noe murmured:
— What did we just free? Dante lifted his eyes toward the cranes.
— A route. Selene felt her heart drop. Not only an exit. A route. A channel for escape. Or trafficking. Or archives.
— You used us.
— Yes. At least he had the decency to be clear. Eden took a step. Selene stopped him with one word:
— No. Dante looked at the pouch.
— Keep your proof, Selene. You will need it. But understand this: your father did not sell an entrance. He sold a route. And now that it is open, everything the White Hand buried in this port can come out. A siren sounded in the distance. Not police. Boat. A huge container slid slowly along automated rails somewhere behind Dante. On its metal side, a white symbol appeared under the rain. A lily. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Dante handed Selene a small black envelope.
— The name you wanted. Eden reached for it. Selene beat him to it. Inside the envelope, a photo. A man in a light-colored suit. Not Valere. Older. With a name on the back: Doctor Marius Lenoir - White Hand - driver of the gray vehicle. Selene stared at the name. Marius Lenoir. The doctor who, fifteen years earlier, had signed the report saying Claire Moreau had been unstable before the accident. The driver and the doctor. The impact and the silence. The blood and the report. The two hands of Lily. Dante stepped back.
— In your place, I would leave the port before your mother-in-law decides to bomb everything that annoys her.
— She is not my mother-in-law, Selene said.
— Not yet, Dante answered. Eden fired. Not at Dante. At the lamp just above him.
Dante laughed as he disappeared into the darkness. Maelys yelled in the earpiece:
— I am sorry, but that was deserved. Selene, soaked, clutching the proof against herself, watched the container marked with the lily advance into the night. The Orsini port had just opened. And what was coming out was not only proof. It was a war.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— To the left. He stopped. Then moved. To the left. Dante observed the movement with visible interest.
— Fascinating. She really trains you better than your mother did. Eden raised his weapon. Selene spoke before him.
— You wanted Noe. You will not have him. Dante looked at Noe, soaked, shaking, but standing.
— He opened the valve? Noe blinked.
— Yes.
— Ah. Dante almost seemed satisfied.
— Then he is beginning to repay differently. Selene clutched the pouch against herself.
— You promised the name of the White Hand man on my mother's road.
— I promised if deal. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12— No. You offered an impossible deal to push us toward the water exit, because you knew Valere was coming down. You did not want Noe. Not really. You wanted him to open the valve. Dante's smile changed. Less playful. Sharper.
— Very good. She follows. Eden turned his head toward her. Selene did not look at him. She was staring at Dante.
— Why?
— Because that valve had been blocked for fifteen years by a Moreau lock. Orsini could open the entrance, not the exit. Your brother carried the rhythm. You carried the correction. Together, you reopened the channel. Noe murmured:
— What did we just free? Dante lifted his eyes toward the cranes.
— A route. Selene felt her heart drop. Not only an exit. A route. A channel for escape. Or trafficking. Or archives.
— You used us.
— Yes. At least he had the decency to be clear. Eden took a step. Selene stopped him with one word:
— No. Dante looked at the pouch.
— Keep your proof, Selene. You will need it. But understand this: your father did not sell an entrance. He sold a route. And now that it is open, everything the White Hand buried in this port can come out. A siren sounded in the distance. Not police. Boat. A huge container slid slowly along automated rails somewhere behind Dante. On its metal side, a white symbol appeared under the rain. A lily. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 12Dante handed Selene a small black envelope.
— The name you wanted. Eden reached for it. Selene beat him to it. Inside the envelope, a photo. A man in a light-colored suit. Not Valere. Older. With a name on the back: Doctor Marius Lenoir - White Hand - driver of the gray vehicle. Selene stared at the name. Marius Lenoir. The doctor who, fifteen years earlier, had signed the report saying Claire Moreau had been unstable before the accident. The driver and the doctor. The impact and the silence. The blood and the report. The two hands of Lily. Dante stepped back.
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