A Hill To Die On (Part 1)

October 13th - Kimura Kiyomi 

On the drive to the park I tried to look as confident as possible and I could feel that Suzuki was doing the same thing. We looked at each other and we could see in each others eyes that we were confident about what was to happen. I knew the park pretty well and my mother had told me before that the bench at the top of the hill was her favorite spot. What I didn't know was the fact that the park probably held quite a few bad memories as well. Spending time there with Yuto before he died must have been some of the best times of her life, but after his death those feelings must have weighed heavy on her. When we arrived at the park we could see my mothers car and one other that I didn't recognize. Was that Sophia by any chance? But why would she be here? Together with Suzuki we frantically looked for my mother and we finally found her at the top of the hill and it seemed we did come just in time. The sky was pitch black and the cold was biting and as we arrived next to my mother and the person I suspected to be Sophia we could already see the monster that was about to attack. I was extremely nervous because I still remembered our first fight and how it almost went wrong and this monster looked at lot stronger than the first one we thought. But then I looked at my mother and the other woman sitting on the bench and both of them looked completely unfazed and like this whole situation didn't even have anything to do with them.

“Are you alright mom?” Was all I could think of to say. Now my mother looked at me, but she still seemed strangely detached from the whole situation.

“Yes, Kyio, I'm fine. By the way, this is Sophia. I don't think you both know each other yet.”

Now the other woman who I correctly assumed was Sophia also looked at me and nodded with a smile. But she also seemed like this whole thing wasn't really bothering her at all. They really reminded me of how Suzuki usually behaved. But I couldn't linger on that thought too long as I had to concentrate on the enemy that presented itself.

“Do you know what this thing is?” I asked Suzuki.

“It's called an Eiskralle. It's a lot stronger and smarter than an Eiswind, but we still should be able to beat it if nothing goes wrong. In this moment the Eiskralle actually seemed to take notice of us and moved in our direction. I looked at the two women on the bench again and they still didn't seem to think the situation was calling for any sort of agency even though the monster was moving directly in their direction. Not knowing what else to do Suzuki and I positioned ourselves in front of them to at least try to protect them. Then we both looked at each other.

“Are you ready?” I asked him. He nodded with a sincerity I didn't really expect from him, but he was actually always showing when it mattered. We both held up our hands and pressed our palms together and I did as my mother instructed me in our training session and my hand immediately began to glow from the Mana collection around my hand and it started to flow towards Suzukis body. When he said it was enough I did again like I was told and this time the Mana flow stopped without issue. And just in time as the Eiskralle finally seemed to take note of us and started to move faster. It still wasn't very fast, but it was obvious that it was very strong as I could feel it's presence and it felt a lot more dangerous than the Eiswind had felt. Suzuzki told me to take s step back and I did as he said, as my job for the moment was done. He positioned himself like he did on the roof of the school and I couldn't help but be smitten by his appearance when he did it. Then he let lose and the first attack shot towards the monster and hit it with an eery sound of bursting ice and screaming. But when the cloud of steam and ice dissipated the monster seemed barely damaged and was still moving towards us. At least it was knocked back a couple of meters, but that only bought us a little bit of time. Suzuki and I looked at each other not knowing what to do next.

“That didn't work out.” Was the not very helpful comment that came to mind.

“Apparently not. I think we need more Mana.”

“But remember what happened last time. It's too risky.” I was genuinely worried about what would happen to him or to me, but at the same time I didn't really know what else to do. Then something unexpected happened. In the middle of our discussion we let our guard down and before I realised it the Eiskralle was close enough to actually launch an attack on us. The monster launched forward with an surprising amount of speed and it seemed like there was no way to avoid it hitting me and I froze in place not able to do anything about it before I felt someone push me out of the way and before I realized it I lay on the ground and the monster hit the person that had shoved me out of the way. After that Suzuki hat it with another attack and that made the monster retreat for the moment and I could see who had saved me. It was Sophia. Now I was panicking. This didn't look good. Was she dead? When I reached her she lay on her back and was breathing heavily. Obviously she was gravely injured.

“Sophia, why did you...” I started crying. Sophia was coughing as she attempted to speak.

“Don't worry about it. You need to live. I did what I needed to do.” Then she closed her eyes and I was afraid she would die right then and there, but for the moment she kept breathing, but it was obvious that she didn't have long. I was looking at my mother sitting on the bench and she still didn't seem to realize what had just happened. Then I saw two people run towards us. One was Suzukis mother and the other person was a man I didn't recognize, but he looked exactly like Suzuki would probably look as an old man, so I assumed he was a Moon as well. When they arrived I could see that Suzukis mother was in tears. I realised that Sophia must be her mother. I looked at Suzuki and he was able to keep the Eiskralle at bay for the moment and could keep it from moving closer to us. But we still were in need of a more powerful attack.

“Mom, are you alright? What happened?” Suzukis mother was crying as Sophia opened her eyes slowly and smiled at her daughter.

“I did what I had to do. It's alright. I'm glad we could see each other one last time.” Then she closed her eyes again.

“Don't say something like that mom. We're going to get an ambulance...” Sophia slowly shook her head and her daughter stopped talking, but cried all the more. I didn't know what the situation between the two of them was, but I was glad they could see each other in this situation and Sophia didn't have to die alone. Then I realised the man was also kneeling besides her. Suzukis mother was looking at him now.

“Dad, can't you do anything? Can't we save her somehow?” So that was her father? What a terrible time for a family reunion. Now Sophia opened her eyes again and looked at the man. She was smiling again.

“It's good to see you again Kento. You know what to do, right?” Now the man smiled as well.

“Hello Sophia, it's been a while. Yes, I know what to do.” Then he reached into his jacket and produced a small, crystal pendant. Now all the sudden my mother came to life again.