The Deadly Charm

Part 54 : Akira's Story (Part 1)

The Tale of My Father and Mother

My name is Akira.
Sometimes I wonder if my life is just... too complicated.
I grew up with a father whose career was far from ordinary, and a mother whose world was the complete opposite of his. The two of them should never have belonged together—but fate brought them into each other's lives. And I am the result of that extraordinary love.

My Father: Thanakorn – The Shaman of Thailand

My father's name is Thanakorn, a well-known dark shaman in Thailand's spiritual and occult circles. Many know him as a master of rituals—able to control spirits and perform fearsome, powerful rites. Those in need of extraordinary help often turned to him: for love spells, curse removals, or even revenge. My father could do it all—if the price was right.

While others found him terrifying, to me, my father was loving and protective. His love for my mother and me was unwavering. Still, I always knew his world was dangerous. Communing with dark forces and lost spirits meant he was always one step away from something he might never return from.

My Mother: Sayuri – The Miko of a Japanese Shrine

If my father belonged to the world of darkness, my mother was firmly rooted in the light. Her name was Sayuri, a miko (shrine maiden) who served at a Shinto shrine in Japan. She came from a lineage that valued purity, devotion to the gods, and inner peace. A miko's role is to communicate with deities and ward off evil—upholding spiritual harmony and discipline.

How My Parents Met

Their meeting was nothing short of bizarre. I never imagined that two people from such opposing realms could ever cross paths. Father once told me he had been hired by a powerful Japanese businessman who believed he was cursed by a business rival. The job took him to Japan, to the very shrine where my mother served.

Father said that shrine felt different. It was sacred in a way he'd never encountered in Thailand. The peaceful, pure energy there calmed even his own darkness. Even as a man of the shadows, he felt the light there deeply.

Mother told me that the moment she saw him, she sensed something unnatural. His aura reeked of dark magic, and she was instantly wary. But what intrigued her was that he hadn't come to desecrate or defile the shrine—he was seeking answers. He needed her help to trace the origin of a spirit haunting his client.

A Love Both Strange and Complicated

Their relationship began with distrust, yet somehow transformed into a complicated love. They came from two worlds—one of shadows and lost souls, the other of sacred purity and peace. And yet, they found in each other something that filled the emptiness they hadn't realized they had.

Father said meeting my mother was like discovering the light in his life. He never stopped working in the occult, but with her by his side, his perspective changed. Mother never asked him to abandon his powers—but she helped him see another way. A way that didn't involve harming others.

Even my mother, once skeptical of his path, admitted that his power could be used for good in certain situations. Together, they became an unlikely but powerful team—helping those in spiritual crisis. They were a strange pair, yes—but they loved each other truly.

A Forbidden Love

My mother was a respected miko, expected to remain pure in both body and spirit. There was no way the shrine elders would accept her loving a man who wielded dark magic. To them, Father was forbidden.

Their relationship became a secret they tried desperately to protect. They both knew that if the shrine found out, it would mean disaster. But secrets have a way of surfacing. The shrine began to notice changes in my mother—her spiritual balance wavered, her light dimmed. She wasn't following the rules anymore.

The day the truth came out changed my life forever.

Father and Mother were discovered. The shrine could not accept that a miko had fallen in love with a practitioner of dark sorcery. They branded her a traitor—and began hunting them both.

That day is burned into my memory.
The shrine declared my father a threat to their sanctity and came to punish him. But my mother... she stood in front of him, shielding him with her own body.

I still see it so clearly—Mother standing between Father and the shrine warriors. She didn't want him killed. She was willing to sacrifice herself to protect the man she loved.

I stood there and watched it all.
The shrine's divine power struck her down—power meant to protect the good became a weapon that killed the woman I loved most.
She collapsed at my father's feet, blood pouring from a fatal wound. I remember Father's scream—so loud, so broken—it echoed in my soul and never left.

My Father's Descent Into Madness

Father couldn't bear to see Mother die in front of him. Her loss shattered him. The dark powers he had kept under control for so long surged out of him in a violent storm. Rage consumed him.

He unleashed his powers without mercy. Spirits, curses, and shadows answered his call. The shrine's warriors were overwhelmed—one by one, they fell. The holy light of the shrine was swallowed by his darkness.

Father didn't stop until everyone was gone.
No one was left to pursue or harm him. But what he lost... could never be replaced.
My mother—Sayuri—the love of his life, died that day.

Fleeing to Thailand

After the shrine was destroyed, Father knew we could never stay in Japan. His actions made him an enemy to shrines all across the country.

So he fled—with me.
He brought me back to his homeland, Thailand, where belief in spirits and sorcery still thrived. It was a place where he could survive.

But Father knew he couldn't raise me alone.
He left me in the care of Aunt Piangfah—his half-sister. She became my guardian from that day on. Though she wasn't my biological mother, she raised me with warmth and love.

As for my father, Thanakorn...
He remained trapped in the pain of losing my mother.
He continued practicing his dark arts, deeper than ever.
And then, one day—he disappeared from my life... and Aunt Piangfah's.