I leave the glowing orb exactly where it is.
That decision feels deliberate and instinctive all at once, like something deep inside me understands that touching it now would open a door I am not ready to walk through, so I turn away even though every part of me is aware of it sitting there in the basement, warm and patient and very much not dormant. I can still feel it as I move, a low awareness that settles under my ribs like a held breath, and I force myself not to look back because looking back would be the first step toward doing something irreversible.
I collect the training equipment I actually came down here for, grounding myself in the familiar weight of leather and metal, the scuffed straps and worn grips steady in my hands, and I carry it back upstairs with careful focus, forci
