After walking a long way through the desert, Erica and Papel arrived at a city. Seeing it on the horizon, the girl dropped to her knees and raised her arms to the sky.

—We did it!— she exclaimed.

Then she saw Papel, who climbed on top of her and snuggled around her neck, happy.

—We're one step closer— she said.

As they entered the city, they passed through an archway built of blue wood, with a large sign in the center welcoming them to "Vergherel". They passed through it to enter the city. As they marched through the suburbs, the girl took time to look at the large buildings and wide streets, much larger than those of her country. The buildings were mostly made of brick, but there were some of rustic stone and metal, with twisted shapes and flaws that no local seemed to care much about. If it would do, it would do. Buildings didn't need to be pretty. Nothing needed to be pretty, except muscles. Erica wondered if this was how the nonis thought.

As she had expected, the vast majority of the population were nonis. She found it strange to see them without the yellow military uniforms. There were big, muscular nonis, but also old and pot-bellied nonis, ladies talking in the middle of the streets, food stalls, children with little horns playing and all sorts of other people. They were all on average taller than the humans in her world, but other than that they didn't look much different to her. Suddenly, she saw a young noni girl about her age, with nothing covering her chest. She looked to the sides to see the reactions of other people, but no one seemed to mind.

—Wow— thought Erica —Is this what they call culture shock?

She wandered the wide, purple asphalt streets for a while. She didn't learn much about her father's whereabouts, but she did learn quite a bit about the nonis, like how it was common for a fight to break out between two or more from time to time, and that it was frowned upon to try to intervene or stop them. A fight was sacred, more so than dialogue, so she entertained herself by watching the occasional brawl. She even got into a few herself, through odd circumstances.

She also identified a handful of religious symbols. There were several faiths in Nudo, one of the largest was practiced in that city and it took Erica no trouble to identify it. Suddenly she noticed a group of people praying as she walked. The noni in front of the group was holding heavy golden chains as he moved his lips through the memorized passages.

Curious, the girl followed them at some distance. Not long after, they descended a flight of stairs that plunged into the ground.

—The subway— she supposed.

However, as she too descended, she found a huge open room, built of stone and metal. There wasn't much ornamentation or furniture, but rather large spaces and thick pillars supporting the structure. The violet coloring of the city changed to a bluish one, coming from the hanging flames on the walls.

At the other end of the room was an altar of sorts, from which hung more golden chains and a symbol carved in stone on the wall, which looked like an 8 with a stake through it from top to bottom. It was an 8 made of chains.

Erica looked for something that would caught her eye. She went to the far corners of the temple, but only found more chains and a small fountain.

—A fountain?— she wondered.

When she approached the altar, she found only the chains that could be seen from afar and a few stained-glass windows with... What was that? She looked closer. To her surprise she found the figure of a knight in white armor in one, an armor that looked very familiar.

—Interested in history, I see— commented a noni beside her.

Erica was startled, for she had not expected to be spoken to. The fellow next to her was as tall as any noni, but his body was thinner, his horns large, his face wrinkled and his hair white. He wore a long, thick robe that covered him to below his knees, one of the loosest outfits she had ever seen on one of his kind.

—What... who...?— the girl wanted to ask, but her tongue quickly got tangled.

—I am Geramel, the priest of this humble temple— he answered in a serene voice —and you seem to be someone who knows nothing about the Great Chains.

—The what chains?- she asked, although they sounded familiar.

—The Great Chains, the essence of our beliefs, do you know them?

—I would like you to tell me about him- she pointed to the stained glass window with the white knight -Who is he?

—Ah, the Chainer- said Geramel -our lord and savior. He controls the Great Chains

To complete his prayer, the priest traced an 8 on his forehead with his thumb and then crossed it with a vertical slash.

—What do you mean "He controls the Great Chains"? What are they?

—The chains that bind the worlds, that prevent them from separating from each other.

This definition became familiar to Erica.

—You mean the Bridges?

—They have several names, yes. In popular vocabulary those links are treated as bridges, although the Great Chains mean something a little bigger than simple connections.

—So the Chainer can... handle the bridges? —How so?

—No one knows quite how far the Chainer's powers go- Geramel explained -but at least he can manage the Great Chains in such a way that they connect worlds that were previously unconnected. He has the power to bind us all together and take us to the next world when we leave our bodies.

Erica nodded, it made sense. The Chainer could create bridges as he wished and travel wherever he pleased... but no, that raised more doubts. If he could go wherever he wanted, why couldn't he go to the heart of the chains?

—Maybe that place was an exception —the girl supposed.

It was the only possible explanation. After all, there would be no other reason to search so desperately for a key.

—I'm looking for his lair- she continued -one with two chains joined together, very large and seemingly alive.

Geramel's eyes widened in surprise, but he soon played down the girl's illusions.

—I think you mean the Core, the very center of the Universe, the heart of the Great Chains.

—Yes, yes, the heart. How do you get there?

The priest looked at her as one who looks at a small child imitating words they should not at their age.

—Well... you would have to die.

—What?

—It's where the souls go to talk to the Chainer and decide their destiny. He guides us after death to the next world... Do you understand?

—So the Core is a spiritual place— she exclaimed, grumpy.

Geramel shrugged his shoulders.

—I don't know who told you to go there, but they were probably playing a joke on you, child. I'm sorry.

After saying goodbye to the priest, Erica left the temple with a hint of irritation. How could she go to rescue her father from a spiritual place?

Yet he was there. It had to be a real place. It had to be. But the priests didn't think so. Perhaps they were ignorant of the true person of the Chainer. They praised him as a god, it was to be expected that they believed in him as a strictly spiritual entity.

—But I met him in the flesh. There must be more people who know him and know how to get to the Core— she said to herself.

She would have to ask elsewhere. She hadn't gotten all the answers she wanted, but she wasn't going to give up because of that.