Aurora wipes her tears. "You are right… We have to grow strong and save them!" She then looks up at me sheepishly, "as for your question, no, I don't want you to replace my father. I… it's very embarrassing to admit… promise you won't laugh?"
"Sure." I reply seriously.
She takes a deep breath, collecting her thoughts- and bravery- and begins.
"When I was 8 years old, I unlocked the Alchemist class, which was a great achievement for a child that young, maybe even a record, and my parents thought so too.
They started taking away my toys, refused to play with me at all, and basically treated me like an adult, or a prodigious apprentice working under them, not their small child.
My mother who read me tales or sang lullabies to lull me to sleep instead started reciting elixir recipes to me at night. When I asked her to sing me a song she just started singing about safety protocols… And they weren't even rhyming at all.
