After I let out my pent-up fear and pain, I sat up on my bed, feeling empty. Mom left for a moment, then came back with a pill and a cup of water in hand. This time, I didn’t refuse it. Silently taking the pill and draining the cup, I tried to make sense of what was happening to me.
And yet, I still couldn’t figure it out.
“Sweety, do you think you can tell me about what happened?” Mom asked gently.
I nodded silently, then laid back down on my bed as mom dragged a nearby chair to sit next to me. She then patiently waited for me to be ready to speak. Having already cried my eyes out, I felt hollow as I started narrating the events of my nightmare to her.
“…And after that, everything except for me faded into a pitch-black darkness. Then, my feet…”
I tried to carry on, to paint her the horrifying and excruciating event, but the words simply would not leave my throat. With an open jaw and a vacant stare, I was starting to relive the experience once more.
“That’s enough, Kiara. You’ve told me enough – now try to get some rest while I bring you your breakfast.” She said, gently squeezing my hand before heading downstairs.
The clock on my wall said that we were still early in the morning, and the sun was probably just rising over the horizon.
“So sleepy…”
Given the nightmare and how my sleep was interrupted, I was still dead tired. And yet, I did not dare close my eyes. The fear of facing that nightmare again was still haunting me.
***
“Did you like the food?”
“Mhm.”
“That’s good. How are you feeling?”
“I am okay.”
“Would you like a cup of milk?”
“No thanks.”
At this point, I was starting to feel weird. It was like I was watching the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of someone else from a distance.
“I see. Then you should probably rest. I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”
“Mhm.”
I slowly pulled up my blankets while mom turned off the lights and came back to sit next to me.
“Goodnight, Kiara. I love you.” She said, kissing my forehead.
I closed my eyes and drifted off.
Thankfully, it was a peaceful slumber without dreams.
***
Over the next few days, I developed a fever, and ended up being bedridden. Dimri came over to check up on me but didn’t find anything wrong. After Mom told him about what happened, he concluded that it was probably my mental condition causing symptoms, and that good rest and nutritious food would bring me back to my feet. Just in case, he also asked that we discontinue the use of the pills.
Aunt Ighir and Durreg came to visit often, though not at the same time, in case their own egg hatched. I don’t know if Mom explained the situation to them or if they figured something was wrong, but they were really gentle to me, without their usual rough banter.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Mom spent most of her day taking care of me and watching the egg, diligently making me food and raising my spirits. To pass the time and stave off my boredom, she would do all sorts of things, from reading story books to me to playing card games.
Within the week, as the Life Dragon had said, my fever began decreasing in intensity, and the nightmares never returned. And yet, mom and I both avoided even mentioning anything relating to the system, magic, monsters, or combat.
Until today.
“Kiara, are you sure you’re feeling alright? You should probably stay in bed for a while longer, just in case.” Mom said, holding the egg in her hands like she always did.
“Yeah, mom. I am sick of staying in bed all day. Besides, I want to try fighting something.”
Mom was surprised for an instant, before anger took over her.
“You’re barely out of bed, and you already want to get back to fighting?! Haven’t you traumatized yourself enough?!”
I stayed quiet for a moment, letting mom’s words settle before responding.
“You’re right, mom. But even if I want to stay away from trouble, trouble is going to come looking for me. You heard the Goddess of Fortune. I don’t want to be helpless when the time comes.”
“Enough of that, Kiara! There is no reason a child like you should have to go through so much and be shouldered with any burdens. Look where it got you! Even an adult would struggle to deal with what you’ve dealt with, let alone a child whose age is measured in months! From now on, you will just sit back and let me handle anything coming your way. Are we clear?” Mom said, her tone brooking no argument.
But this time, I wasn’t willing to just back down.
“And what happens if you aren’t there?! Or if a second threat arrives while you’re dealing with the first?! Or if you’re unable to stop a threat on your own?! There are countless scenarios where you won’t be able to help me, and you’re not going to be by my side for every moment of the rest of my life, so I need to be able to protect myself!” I argued back passionately.
“You aren’t expected to protect yourself, Kiara! That’s my job! You’re a child!” she stressed, denying me a chance to retort as she continued.
“You’ve been burying traumatizing incident after another until it all came crashing down! We’re far past the stage of preventing this from affecting your development – we’re deep in damage mitigation territory!” She yelled, her voice reaching a nearly hysteric tone by the end.
Neither of us said anything after that for a while. Eventually, mom took a deep breath, then apologized to me.
“I am sorry I yelled at you, Kiara, but you need to understand. My failing to notice your trauma until you fell apart is a tremendous failure in my parenting. Now that I know, I can’t let you repeat the same mistake and make things worse.” She said gently.
I maintained my silence, digesting mom’s words as she waited for my response. Eventually, I had one for her.
“I get it, mom. I really do. You’re worried for me, and you feel responsible for what happened. But the thing is, the trauma and hurt had started even before I met you, and it’s something I am going to have to deal with in the future. It’s only a matter of time before I have to protect myself, and coddling me isn’t going to help with that.”
Mom listened patiently as I moved on to my next point.
“More importantly, I feel that I have to confront my fears, and that I have to confront them now. I know this deep in my bones: If I let the fear win and avoid facing my fears even once, I am going to keep doing it for the rest of my life. So please, let me deal with this my way. Alright?”
Mom didn’t say anything, as she kept looking at me, searching for any signs of hesitation. I met her gaze, and after some time, she closed her eyes and seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, she heaved a heavy sigh.
“I understand. If you feel that you have to do this to recover, then I can’t stop you. But the moment I suspect that what you’re doing is doing more harm than good, I am going to intervene immediately. Do you have any objections to that?”
I shook my head.
“In that case, what did you have in mind?” she asked.
I stopped to think for a moment.
“I should start with using the system. If I expose myself slowly to its functions, I have a feeling that I’ll stop being so afraid of it. It’s hard to stay afraid of something that isn’t hurting you when you’re around it all the time.” I said, scratching my chin.
“…That’s a reasonable start. Do you need any help with that?”
I nodded.
“I’d like to be put in an arena or a domain field. I am going to want to eventually use my system given skills, and I don’t want to destroy the house while I am at it.”
Mom sighed, then got up from her chair.
“Alright. I’ll go and get my domain field for you.”
Just as she was about to step away, a certain noise stopped her in her tracks.
*CRACK*
We both froze, staring at the egg in mom’s hands. A thin line marred the egg’s formerly pristine surface. Mom gently, yet hurriedly raised held the egg in her hands as we both stared at it intently.
*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK*
Three more lines erupted, intersecting with the first line. After that, a series of cracks spread all over the egg before a small part of the shell was suddenly pushed out.
A tiny, outstretched azure hand took its place, flailing around aimlessly.