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A little girl perched in a tree on a hill. Snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky above, providing the perfect weather for sledding down the girl’s favorite slope. Only the most daring and adventurous would be willing to slide down such a steep incline, especially considering the sizable trees peppering the route. The girl, of course, had long since mastered the terrain. She was here for something else entirely
Nowadays, she preferred to use the spot for people watching. By using a tree around the halfway point of the climb as a vantage point, she could get a good view of people at the top of the hill while maintaining line of sight as they descend. The falling snow restricted visibility, but she could see well enough for her purposes. She scanned the top of the hill, but didn’t see many people. Only one pair stood at the top, loudly talking to one another.
“C’mon, Franny, you worry too much. It’s just sledding. If you think this is steep, you should see the slopes near Kurain!” A dark haired woman in a purple coat beamed at her companion. Kurain… the girl recognized that word. Could this woman be from the fabled villiage of spirit mediums? Very exciting.
“It’s not ‘sledding’, it’s simply foolish! Do you not see all those trees?!” The other woman snapped back. Her bluish silver hair was cut fairly short, and she carried herself with a great deal of gravitas, almost like a princess… no, a knight.
“Duh, of course I see the trees. They’re part of the challenge!” The mystic carried a sizable plastic sled, but didn’t seem encumbered in the slightest. No, she brimmed with energy, hardly able to hold still.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? I want no part in this.” The knight brandished a weapon of some sort. The girl couldn’t tell exactly what it was, from her distance, but it made a satisfying sound as it swished through the air.
“Of course not, I just said I’d steer around them! I’ll be fine! But do you really want to just stand around in the snow while I have all the fun?”
The knight grimaced. “Unlike you, I value my mental faculties. But I know better than to try and stop you from being foolish. Just be careful, and don’t act surprised when you end up hurting yourself.”
“Alright, love you too.” After a brief run up, the mystic jumped onto her sled, quickly becoming a streak of color. Racing down the hill at exhillerating speed, she weaved around every tree in her way, until-
THONK!
The girl lost her footing, and swiftly found herself laying face down in the foot-deep snow.
“MAYA FEY!” The knight trudged down the hill as quickly as she could.
The mystic responded with a peal of laughter as she picked herself back up. “I’m fine, Fran, I’m fine!”
“What you are is a ridiculous fool! I swear-” She stopped herself as she reached the tree and noticed a shape in the snow. A little girl in a pink coat laid face down on the ground. Judging by her size, she couldn’t’ve been older than ten. She began to pick herself up, and without a word, the knight lent a hand.
“Are you alright?” The woman’s voice took on a softer tone.
The girl brushed some snow out of her copper colored hair. “Mhm! I’m okay. Thank you, kind miss knight.” She gave the two older women a well-practiced curtsey.
The knight in question made a puzzled expression. “…Miss knight? My name is Franziska von Karma.”
“You seem like a knight, so I’m calling you a knight.” The girl tilted her head as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
The mystic chuckled. “Wow, not even ten seconds and you already have the hard read on Franfran. So, what’s your name?”
“I’m Mariko!” A sweet smile spread across her face before it gave way to a look of sheer youthful passion. “What brings the two of you to the Mount of Legend? Are you fellow adventurers?”
“But of course! You speak to the one and only Master of the Kurain Technique, Maya Fey!” She struck a pose.
Mariko beamed, eyes wide with excitement. “I see, I see! I take it you’ve a list of accomplishments befitting that title?”
“Oh you bet! I trained for years in another country, I’ve been kidnapped or framed for murder enough times that I stopped counting, and I even inspired the creation of the Pink Princess! I’m basically her but in real life.”
The back and forth came to a sudden, lurching halt, but after a moment, the girl responded. “Who’s the Pink Princess?”
Maya held her head in her hands, overcome with despair. “Oh god. Franziska, is this it? Are we old?”
“Such foolish dramatics.”
Mariko gasped as realization dawned on her. “Wait, I know! Isn’t that one of those samurai shows? My dad showed me one of those once.”
“…yes.” The mystic remained dejected.
The knight spoke, her tone towards the girl as firm as it was fond. “Mariko, could I ask if you have a parent or guardian accompanying you on your adventures?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Mom drove me here. She’d usually come with me, but today she was overcome by an evil cryomancer.”
An eyebrow raised. “Excuse me?”
Mariko pouted at the request for elaboration. “She’s waiting in the car because she slipped and hurt her knee.”
Franziska returned a nod. “Very well. In that case, I don’t suppose you would mind if Maya Fey and I were to tag along for the remainder of your quest?”
“Of course not! A good adventurer never turns down a companion.”
The mystic grinned, clearly having regained some amoung of her vigor. “Great idea, Franny! The more the merrier. But Mariko, I was wondering… just what were you doing in that tree?”
The knight was momentarily taken aback. “She was climbing the tree you just hit?”
“There’s nowhere else she could’ve come from. I didn’t see her on the ground before I crashed, but she appeared afterwards. Since there aren’t any footprints leading here, she must’ve been here long enough for the snow to cover them.” Maya posed, a pointer finger to her forehead. “Zvarri! An elementary deduction, dear Franzon!”
“Well, Maya Fey, you are not without a point- that is quite curious. What exactly were you doing up in a tree in a place such as this, Mariko?”
The girl tilted her head inquisitively. “You ask a lot of questions. I was just people watching.”
“People watching? From a tree in the middle of a sledding hill? With snow restricting visibility?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t imagine you were able to see many people under such conditions.” Franziska continued.
“That’s true.”
The mystic spoke up, coaxing an answer out of Mariko as though she were beckoning a stray cat. “So… why this spot, then?”
Mariko turned up her nose as though the answer were self-evident. “The shallower slopes are crawling with people, but they’re mostly babies. Only fellow adventurers and other interesting people dare venture here.”
Maya shrugged. “Makes enough sense. Now, I’m gonna get back to climbing this thang, ‘cus I need to make it all the way down this hill at least once today or else I’m going to be the center of an international incident.” Leaving no room for ambiguity, she began shuffling upwards through the snow, dragging her sled behind her.
Mariko paused for a moment before she followed suit, scampering up the hill with a level of speed and precision known only to the young and earnestly enthusiastic. In fact, it wasn’t long before she had outpaced Maya, leaving two stunned older women in her wake. Redoubling her efforts, the mystic continued to climb, and von Karma, not one to be outdone, trudged along after her.
The two women reached the small clearing at the top of the slope at around the same time, and were met with a curious sight: Mariko stood beside a ball of snow, the size of which approached her own height. Her mittened hands affixed a smaller snowball to the top of the mound, and snowflakes clung to her lovingly styled hair.
Hearing the crunch of snow underfoot behind her, the girl quickly turned around and began to wave, arm outstretched over her head.
Maya responded, slightly out of breath. “Hey! Wow, that’s… a really big snow… sculpture? What is it, exactly?”
“A snow monster. Obviously.” Mariko crouched down as she gathered another snowball about the same size as the last one, then placed it atop the sculpture. With both in place, the mound/monster became symmetrical, and one could recognize the additions as eyes.
“Ahh, I understand.” said Maya, nowhere close to confident she understood. Most of her focus was on her sled and its position as she prepared her next launch. Once she was ready, she left the hilltop with one final message- “SEEYA!”
Franziska watched as the figure of her companion slid away with a quickly fading “WHOOO!”. The medium’s movements were impressively controlled, especially considering her exhillerating speed. Before long, she had rocketed past the tree that stopped her before, where she continued to shrink into the distance.
At least until her trajectory suddenly changed. It was difficult to tell exactly what happened from the distance, but it was evident that the sled had turned a good 90 degrees, and may or may not have begun flying through the air sans occupant.
Franziska took a sharp breath, only just now noticing the way her teeth bore down on her inner lip. She scanned the distant snow for any sign of the mystic, but couldn’t make out anything. Even as she restrained her reaction, a hand clutched at her whip where it sat in her bag, the pressure enough to turn her knuckles white.
After a tense moment, a flicker of movement. Maya’s silhouette spang up from the snow, and Franziska visibly relaxed. As the mystic began to climb, Mariko glanced up from her own work, oblivious to what had just happened. “Hey, miss knight?”
“…yes? What is it?”
Mariko tilted her head inquisitively. “You seem sorta familiar, but I’m not sure why. Do I know you? Have my memories been sealed by some terrible curse?”
After a moment of recollection, the knight responded. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Perhaps I might know one of your parents?”
“Hmm… well, dad’s a buisinessman, and mom’s an author. What do you do?”
“My exact job title has changed a few times, but I’ve always worked closely with the legal system. My true calling is simple- I strive to protect the innocent and punish the guilty.”
Mariko seemed deep in thought. “…legal system… punish the guilty… oh! Are you a persecutor?”
Franziska fought back the mirth that threatened to show on her face. “I believe you mean prosecutor, but you are not incorrect. I was, for many years. I’ve pursued other callings for some time, however.”
The girl nodded. “I’ve only ever met one prosecutor before, and she was kind of lame. She lost and stormed off in tears. The judge fired her.”
“I… don’t think a judge has that sort of authority.”
A shrug. “I dunno. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. The Eternal Trial of the Frozen Moon Garden was exceptionally eventful.”
An uneasy feeling dawned on Franziska, as though she stood upon the borderline between reason and madness. She opted not to peer deeper into the abyss. “…can you tell me about your snow monster?”
“Okay!”
When Maya returned to the top of the hill, she met with a peculiar scene.
“Alright, alright, I’ll show you what I can do. Stand back.” Franziska held her whip coiled out in front of her as Mariko, clearly enraptured by the implement, stepped away as she was told.
A moment passed, silence broken only by the crunch of snow underfoot.
Then, a sharp, resounding crack. A sizable crater was blown out of the little girl’s work, but she could hardly be happier. Mariko literally bounced with excitement.
“Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah! THAT WAS SO COOL!”
“Heck yeah, FRANNY LET’S GOOO!” The mystic immediately joined in, managing equal enthusiasm.
Franziska seemed a bit taken aback, but still maintained her composure. “Hmph. It’s nothing, really.”
“Nothing?!” Mariko exclaimed, arms waving wildly with excitement. “THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! IT WAS JUST LIKE… just like…” The girl came to a stop, seemingly deep in thought.
“Just like…?” Maya tilted her head inquisitively.
Mariko’s answer came to her like a bolt of lightning, and it exited her mouth just as quickly. “ITWASJUSTLIKEFRANZY’SWHIPPITYWHIPTRIP!”
It took Franziska a moment to sort out what had just been said, and another moment to recall what that phrase meant. While it by no means an unpleasant memory, it had been a while since she thought about her first and last entry into the children’s picture book market. The frantic pleas of a certain fool had persuaded her to lend her face and name to his art, and naturally, her generosity led him to modest success the likes of which he had never seen before.
The fool in question ultimately won her over with the suggestion that she could be an inspiration to the next generation of young girls, so the notion of being seen as a role model wasn’t new to Franziska. In the face of Mariko’s beaming adoration, Franziska played it cool. “It’s nothing, really.”
“Nothing?! No way! This is so cool! You’re, like, famous!” As Mariko continued to bounce in place, Maya chimed in between her peals of laughter.
“Woah, hear that, Franny? You’re finally famous!” Franziska let out a soft chuckle.
Mariko continued. “Mom’s not going to believe this! I need to go get her!”
“Wasn’t she hurt? What about the cryomancer?” Franziska’s inquiry was swiftly laughed off.
“She’ll be fine! I’ll walk her here!” And just like that, Mariko scampered away, leaving the two older women alone in that clearing.
After a brief pause, the silence was broken by something other than footsteps in snow when Maya spoke. “Sounds like you’ve made a fan.” The knight huffed in response. “Oh, come on, don’t think I didn’t notice. If anyone else asked you to whip something, it wouldn’t take you a second to start the lashworks.”
“She’s a little girl, what kind of person do you take me for?” Franziska looked aghast.
“I mean, obviously I know you have a soft spot for kids, but still, you can’t act like that wasn’t unusual. You wouldn’t whip on command like that for, say, Pearls. You’d say it was beneath you.” Maya’s expression was earnestly inquisitive. “So, what gives?”
Franziska paused to contemplate, a hand grasping at her sleeve. “…That girl was precisely the sort of person I’ve devoted my career to protecting. I suppose I found myself enchanted by her innocence. And…” She trailed off.
“Aww, come on, you can’t leave me in suspense like that!” The mystic puffed out her cheeks.
“Fine. I suppose her foolish antics reminded me of someone.”
Maya giggled and leaned into her companion. “You still sure you don’t want to take a trip down the ol’ slope with me?”
Franziska scoffed, eyes rolling as a fond smile betrayed her feelings. “Well, perhaps I won’t rule it out as a matter of course.”