Rin remained in the library long after the footsteps disappeared.
The white feather rested between his fingers. It was impossibly light. Almost weightless and yet his hand felt as though he were holding something much heavier.
He stared at it. The memory still lingered. A dark room. A crying child. A voice whispering:
"Don't let him become a god."
Rin closed his eyes. The scene returned. Not completely. Only fragments.
A wooden floor. Rain against a window. Someone kneeling beside the child.
A hand resting gently on his head.
And then— nothing.
Rin opened his eyes.
"Who was that?"
No answer. He looked toward the door. Kaelith was gone.
Good. Rin wasn't ready to explain what he'd seen. Especially because he didn't understand it himself.
He looked back at the feather. It was white. But not like an ordinary feather.
There was a faint golden line running through its center. Rin turned it over. A tiny symbol was engraved near the bottom.
