As the party reached its peak, I heard the sound of the front door opening. It was my father. A warm feeling enveloped me as he lifted me high, as he always did. Yet, something in his gaze seemed troubled, even when he was smiling at me. My father is constantly away at the borders because of his job.
As my father sat down at the table, he smiled faintly and pulled something strange out of his bag: a wooden effigy of a girl, with a tear-shaped red crystal in the center of its chest.
"I found it… I thought you'd like it," he said.
He was looking at the effigy in a way I hadn't seen before. For a second, his gaze darkened, as if he remembered something—something he didn't want to say aloud.
My father, a military man, had often raised objections to his superiors' tactics to prevent unnecessary casualties, despite it costing him financially. He didn't want to abandon his beliefs just because they were threatening him with money. He brought me the effigy, saying it reminded him of the God of Light from the Kingdom of the Fiery Lake, having found it in a crate of war surplus.
As soon as I touched it, a sudden warmth enveloped my hand. When I touched the crystal, it was as if something was waking up inside me—something I didn't know existed. It was as if it was calling to me. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time.
But as the seconds passed, the heat became more intense—not hot, but suffocating, as if a flame was wrapping around me. An aura of glowing lava began to swirl around me, as if responding to my touch. What the heck was this?
I was excited because it was pulling me in... But then, my father abruptly pulled back, as if he had touched fire. His eyes widened, and his voice, full of worry, broke the silence: "What the…?!"
His gaze darted between me and the object, as if he saw something that shouldn't be there. My mother took a hesitant step forward, saying doubtfully, "Aither... what did you do? You shouldn't… just…" Her voice broke for a moment, and then she glanced at my father, expecting something. My father shook his head, as if telling her, "Leave it."
The others looked on in silence, and then I realized that something was wrong. If it were just a strange crystal, why did my parents look so troubled? My mother looked at me with concern and distress, approached me, and touched my shoulders, saying, "W-We'll look into it another time." My mother and father exchanged a silent, worried glance, as if agreeing that it was not the right time to say more.
My mother looked at me with a mixture of love and fear. The moment her palms lightly squeezed my shoulders, I felt that it wasn't just a reassuring movement. It was something more… something she didn't want to say out loud.
My mother continued, "Let's not let this event weigh us down with thoughts; let's start eating!" And so the room filled with the smells of the food, the wood from the fireplace, and the light scent from the bracelet I was wearing. But the crystal on the effigy, with its deep red color, dominated my thoughts—like a flame that never went out.