Prologue
“Frosti!” Pyrrahette hollared running into my room with loud huffs following every breath. “Big bwuther come home tomorrow!”
“Ugh… it’s six in the morning, Pyr.”
“Frosti wake up! Big bwuther come home tomorrow!”
“Shit! I mean heck!” I quickly pulled myself out of bed, giving Pyrrahette one of those looks that tried to clearly indicate ‘don’t repeat what I said or I’ll let the monster under your bed get you.’ She clearly didn’t notice me… she was still at the age where she could do nothing about a monster actually being under her bed. “Pyr… you understand that since big bro is coming back… that I’ll be gone for three years, right?”
“Fro…Frosti go to school now too?”
“Yeah. I go tomorrow morning… before big bro comes back home.”
“You no celebrate with us?”
“Sadly I can’t… that’s just how the school operates.” I replied, I looked at the family picture. She’d been younger than five years of age when my big brother, Thermian Snow, went in. I was fourteen. The year he left was the year I’d realized that I may never see him again… so I tried to make up a lot of time with him… much to his discontentment. I’m not sure if he realized that with all odds… he wouldn’t see me, Pyrrha, or mom or dad in three years… the school had a high mortality rate. Typically they sent forty two people per class… the one we were being sent into was on its last legs… and I mean last. My year’s class was the last class to walk the school. There’d be some fifteen year olds going in… maybe even a rare sixteen year old… and then there’d be a few thirteen year olds. Nobody younger than thirteen ever got in earlier than that. “Y…you know that I…”
“Yes Frosti?”
“I…” I hesitated, I wasn’t sure how I should go about telling an eight year old that I may never see her again? Thermian never said anything about it… except for a simple:
“I guess this is goodbye for now.”
“I love you, you know.”
“Me knows very much.”
“You gotta start using proper English soon… or else the monsters under your bed and in your closet will be able to snatch you up. I don’t want you to go missing while I’m gone.”
“Okie, I’ll try Frostine.”
“That doesn’t mean use my name over your little nickname, Pyr.” I muttered, wrapping her up in a hug. I probably hugged her too tightly, cause she scrambled to pull away. I watched her look at me with a sort of blissful happiness that didn’t understand that tomorrow could be the last day I have to live. Pretty much nobody dies the first day… but it’s not entirely unheard of. Especially when you randomly blink in a mundane-born who only just then got the ability to maintain mana or entropy. She scrambled up the stairs after a wave for me to follow. I sat there for several moments, trying to stop each and every streak of tears from happening. I’d spent every single moment either trying to make my mark on Pyrrha’s life… trying to make amends with how shitty of a kid I was at her age with my parents or trying to train and prepare for my turn on the chopping block. And with that I couldn’t hold back the barrage of tears and the sudden urge to sniffle.
“Good morning, Frostine.” Mother said, I slumped into my chair. Father and her had gone all in with their breakfast this morning. I presumed that lunch looked something like Potato Soup… one of my favorite meals… and then my all time favorite meal… Squid Ink Risotto with Shrimp on the side. Sounds strange for a fifteen year old American kid, right? “You doing alright? Your eyes are all… sad.”
“Y…Yeah… just stressed, mother.”
“I understand.” Mother replied. I knew with every ounce of my soul that she did. Every adult wizard was forced to go through the trial. Whether it was a trial to sort through the weak and stupid… or just an accident that no one knew how to stop from happening. Our population had gone down drastically since the school opened two hundred and fifty years ago. I’m sure then they had no idea exactly how dangerous it’d be… except that it’d help them get some rather strong warriors to help them win wars… now? Wizards didn’t help the mundane with wars anymore. They fought each other during wars… but that hadn’t happened since Vietnam. “There you go. Over easy eggs, chorizo, the fluffiest of pancakes, chocolate milk, and an English Muffin. All for you, Frostine.”
“Thanks, mother.” I said, staring at the dish for several moments. There wasn’t much you could do to make this meal any better. Sure, the chocolate and syrup on the pancakes toned down the healthiness of it… but when this could be the last good breakfast that you’d eat for three years… you were expected to go overboard. “I…I am an adequate daughter, right, mother?”
“Oh little snowflake… You’re one of the greatest daughters a parent could ask for.” Mother said, pulling up a chair and moving my locks of hair back into a plait. Not my usual style… but it felt nice to have her play with my hair for once. “Y…you’re one of the best equipped wizardlings that will touch that school. Especially with your affinity… and you’ve tried for the past three years to be there for your sister. Your father and I are so proud.”
“You’ve done much better on that front than that brother of yours.” Father called, stepping into the kitchen, and looking at the two of us. “He practically ignored us until his last day… then tried to spend the entire day with us.”
“Oh your father is just trying to be a bit hyperbolic about that. He spent plenty of time with me…”
“Honey if you’re making this into a competition, I’ll have you know that Frostine has spent two hours more with me than she has with you.”
“T…That’s not…”
“Well, Our time together has been much more meaningful then.”
“W…Wait…”
“Well that may be true, but I’d reckon I know her much better than you do.”
“Frosti loves me the mostest!”
“That’s true.” I said, cutting through their little… debate… I looked at them, all of them giving me wry smiles. “I crown her the champion of my time.”
“Darn.”
“Well, it’s to be expected, dear.”
“I win!”
“Just know… whatever happens in the next three years… we’re so proud of you.” Mother whispered into my right ear.
“You making it in makes me even more fucking proud of you than her… but if we don’t see you out in three years. Just know I’ll be a little bit mad.”
“Honey! You’ll scare her.”
“What? I’m just saying the truth?”
“Thanks dad.”
“What secwet are you hiding?”
“Oh nothing you little gremlin.” Father said, lifting her up into a fireman’s carry. “You’re getting too heavy!”
“Just know if you meet someone in there… and you both make it out… we’ll want to meet them.” Mother said, finishing off the plait. I smiled and mouthed ‘yuck’. My mother gave a stifled snort at that. “Don’t you just look Primm and Proper now… well except your eyes… but time will have to fix that.”
“I’m not that sa…” I stopped as a swarm of mana started to swirl around me. “M…Mom?”
“Hey what’s going on in there no ma… dear lord!” Father dropped Pyrrha on the couch and ran over to my side. With the fear in his eyes, I could tell what was happening. “Frostine. I know you’ll make us proud. Knock it out of the park. I love you.”
“What your father said. We love you. I’ll have all your favorite fruits ready for you to snack on… and I’ll make a list of everything you missed out on so you can keep up to date with the older kiddos.”
“B…but if I’m going already… t…that means that…”
“We know kiddo… I… t…try not to think too much about him.”
“Whut’s happening? Why is she sparkling?”
“Pyrrha, I love you so much… pl…please stay safe. I’ll see you when I come ho…” And that was it. Due to everyone in my brother’s year being… d…dead… I was whisked away a day early. Too early. Everyone else would be whisked away too early… but I had planned out my final goodbye being tomorrow morning right before I left. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
