"Are you sure? He's almost an adult, you know… unlike your daughter, who's still just a child."
My uncle's voice was sharp, cutting through the tension like glass.
Mother was furious, barely holding herself back as she glared at my uncle. He was laughing, mocking me as if it were all some kind of joke.
Then she turned to me.
I flinched.
Her eyes… they didn't look like hers anymore. I couldn't see her face. Not the warmth, not the anger. Just her eyes—those dark, hollow eyes staring right into my soul. I couldn't breathe.
I was scared.
If I told them—Mom, Dad—would they even listen?
Would they believe me?
I don't know…
I'm scared.
"This is my son. He'll fight your daughter." my uncle bought his son
"Father, I don't want to. You said we were here to meet people—not for this. You never mentioned anything like this..." his son said
"He doesn't want to fight? Ha! Must be scared," my father scoffed, turning to the man beside him. "Of course he can't beat my daughter."
And then… he looked at me.
Not my father. Him—my cousin.
His eyes weren't filled with mockery or expectation. He just looked… kind.
The first person who didn't want to fight me.
My chest tightened with something unfamiliar.
Ah… I'm so happy.
I can't even remember his face clearly anymore. Just vague shapes, a blurry smile. But I remember his friend—a boy younger than him, though they looked the same age. They always played together.
One windy afternoon, with sunlight spilling over the grass, I asked him a question. It was innocent. A child's curiosity.
"What's the continent like?"
He glanced at me, his friend already fast asleep under the shade of a tree.
"Oh, it's peaceful," he said.
"Isn't it peaceful here?" I asked, watching the leaves sway.
He turned the question back at me. "Is it peaceful to you?"
I looked down. Was it?
I looked up—towards the sky, the clouds drifting lazily. Blue, bright, and endless.
It was peaceful.
But not in my house.
I didn't want to fight. I never wanted this.
Did I say it out loud? Or did I just think it?
"Peace is…" he began, "a place where you can feel at ease. Where you're not bound by ropes—fears holding you down."
He smiled softly.
"Then… why do people say the dead are in peace? Aren't they scared of dying?"
He seemed caught off guard. His eyes widened.
"Of course they're afraid. But after death, the pain and fear… they're gone. Right?"
Pain… is gone?
"Of course it is. But pain is part of life. You have to accept it, one way or another. Death, pain, peace—they're all part of the same path. You just have to find yours."
"…Can I find it?"
He patted my head. It was warm.
I think I smiled.
I don't remember what he said after that.
I fell asleep.
---
"COME ONNNNNNN—SOLIDIFY! JUST WORK ALREADY—PLEASE!"
I snapped back to reality. My voice echoed through the hollow walls of the well.
Where was I again?
Right. Inside the first well.
I'd sealed it off. No blobs were getting in—for now. It would hold… for a while.
But I still couldn't solidify the damn thing.
"COME ONNN—JUST EVEN A LITTLE BIT—!"
No matter how hard I tried, the molecules refused to shift.
"How do others even do this…?"
I exhaled. My breath fogged the air.
Cold.
So cold.
Too cold.
"The method is simple in theory—just pack the molecules tightly. That's all it takes to make a solid. Easy, right?"
I laughed. Bitter.
Trying to arrange water molecules like that—might as well try to memorize human history word for word. The focus required is impossible. Of course I can't do it.
I'm freezing.
My hands are shaking.
I'm cold.
COLD.
"Wait… Ice."
An idea sparked.
What if—
Instead of making a new material…
What if I just made ice?
Technically, ice is just frozen water. I wasn't trying to alter the nature of the element. Just push it into a familiar state.
Kevin's friend did it. He solidified water—maybe not into a new material, but into ice. That's the easiest path.
My fingers touched the surface.
I focused—mind sharp, breath held.
A shift.
Subtle, but real.
I could feel it. The temperature dropping.
Colder…
Yes—there.
I grabbed it.
A sheet of ice, smooth and solid, spread beneath my feet, trailing from my hands to the edges of my shoes.
I chipped some off and fed it into the ice block.
This can work.