CHAPTER 23
By the time he woke up, the sun was already high in the sky, almost at its apex. The horizon was a blazing orange hue with streaks of gold. Clouds were suspended above, obscuring the sun every few minutes as they slowly floated past.
He had slept until noon of a new day, the final day they had before leaving the snow peak. He crawled out of his tent, yawning as he stretched out his good hand.
He had a cast on the other one, and after a good many hours of rest, the pain had subsided. However, his hand was still a good amount of time away from getting back into shape.
As he stood aloof, staring bleakly into the distance, his attention was soon called to by a familiar female voice.
"You're finally awake, Megumi."
He turned around to see Gekka standing behind him as a massive smile found its way to his face.
"I've never been better."
Gekka chuckled a bit as she gently patted him on the shoulder.
"That's the spirit."
Then she bent down and slowly began unraveling his tent before bringing out everything he had inside: his sleeping bag and his backpack filled with every one of his necessary items.
"You should go wait with Yuki at the van; I'll join you guys soon."
Megumi gasped as soon as he heard her last words.
'Already?'
Indeed, he realized soon after looking around the plateau that they were quickly preparing to say goodbye to the snow-veiled mountain.
Megumi was suddenly filled with emotions he couldn't describe as he stared intently at the walls of the ancient mountain. There were so many memories he had here—more good than bad—especially the ones with his sister.
He knew this day would come, but now he was a bit hesitant to say goodbye.
'Well, I guess I have always been one to get sentimental.'
He shook his head as he trailed his fingers against the smooth, strangely adhesive ice wall. Magic never really made sense, and he had come to realize that it was this lack of profound logic that made this world all the more unique and enjoyable.
He continued to look back as he descended the mountain, the memories of his training and useless chatter with Yuki flooding his mind.
Well, there were a few hiccups here and there, like once more when he tried to test his endurance by jumping down from thirty meters high up the mountain, and then there was his broken hand.
He wouldn't be able to continue physical training after returning home, so he would have to make a few plans on how to spend his spare time.
He had been so engrossed in thought that he didn't realize when he finally reached the van and saw Yuki leaning against the side of the vehicle.
This time, though, she didn't have a book with her and was simply looking in the direction of the mountain. Her face instantly lit up the moment she caught sight of him.
She saved her hand, a smile beaming on her face.
"Megumi!"
He waved back at her as he quickly increased his pace, reaching the van in the next minute.
Now that he was in proper view, the girl tensed up after taking a good look at him, and she was visibly worried.
"What happened to your arm?"
'I guess she hasn't found out already.'
He scratched the back of his neck, trying to pick his words carefully.
Slowly, he answered:
"It's nothing serious, really. I was only resting on one of the massive trees around the forest when I drifted into sleep… Woke up to see myself falling, so I only thought of the best way to save myself…"
He paused for a moment, staring dreadfully into the distance where the multiple giant trees of the forest stood; then he slowly turned his gaze back to Yuki.
"… Well, it turns out I didn't balance my weight enough and ended up putting all the strain on my right hand. But I'll tough it out, so don't worry about me."
Yuki didn't say anything as she continued to look with a distrustful gaze, and after a few seconds, she turned away and continued looking into the distance at the mountain that stood a good number of meters away.
Megumi knew why she looked at him that way, though; she didn't trust him enough to keep himself away from harm. It was the very reason why he was accustomed to the pain he went through training with his sister, though his hand shattering had been something else entirely.
Yuki had been with him for the past few years—five years to be precise—and she knew better than anyone how reckless he could be, so it was only normal that she would be worried.
*******
They both waited patiently by the van for the other three to arrive while they shared a few of the things they had done and learned on the snow peak.
While he had done mostly nothing but training, Yuki had some interesting pieces of information to share.
"At first, I thought coming here would be a pointless waste of time, but it turns out this place contains many secrets we won't be getting answers to anytime soon. I was hoping to at least find a monument, but it turns out the snowy peak is one itself. Most of the truths left of history are decrepit, withered, and lost to time, but I managed to find out that there's a place very similar to the Snowpeak in existence."
She took a deep breath, her voice burning with new life.
"The very same way this mountain is completely veiled with ice and yet doesn't freeze you—there is a volcano southeast past the red desert of Kriesh, and its lava doesn't burn. It's hot, just as the Snow Peak is cold.
It's become a tourist site, much more famous than the snow peak. A resort was built a few meters away from the foot of the volcano where a clear spring bubbled in heat—a hot spring. The volcano became popularly known as Emberhaven and had people from all over the globe coming to pay visits. It quickly became the talk of every town."
She paused as she heaved a sigh and looked away from him toward the mountain standing in the distance once more.
Then she continued, her voice now filled with sadness, devoid of the vigor it had emanated a moment ago.
"Well, it used to be… I dug deeper and managed to uncover a few things, like the fact that ten years ago over a hundred civilians and tourists had died because of that volcano. It was on the day that I was born and the day Our Lady—my mum—went missing."
Megumi shook as she spoke. His lips trembled slightly. He couldn't have imagined how she had even found out. He already knew that she didn't know who her mother was, at least on a personal level. But there were tales left of the graceful sorceress, tales that told of how she had great power and was one of the very few sorcerers to become an Ascended—a sorcerer of the fifth rank…
Everyone knew who the only sorcerer in history to wield the ability of time was, though few knew she ever had children. The fact that she did was something only known to his mother, Aoi, Tsukina, Rikiyo, and the both of them, but…
How in the world had she been able to link the disappearance of her mother to the eruption of a volcano that happened thousands of miles away?
It didn't make any sense…
Pulling himself together, he gave her a contemplative look and asked.
"What makes you think the volcano has something to do with her, though?"
She shifted her gaze to him once and stared at him with a deadpan expression for a few seconds before finally moving her lips.
However, before she could answer, the sound of the wind whistling as a gust blew past their faces quickly drew their attention. Before them, Gekka was standing with a smile on her face and all their luggage carefully placed before her.
It was time for them to go home…