Brutally harsh winds howled their way across the frozen tundra known as Iceberg; sending snow flying all around in an elegant yet violent dance. Storms of this caliber had been commonplace in this country for countless centuries due to the works of an incredibly powerful Dark Mage; or so the legends say. What wasn’t common was the lone figure trudging through the harsh land of ice and snow; wearing a simple tanktop and cargo jeans as she journeyed forth. The cold was nothing to this cream haired young maiden who was carrying on through the storm clinging to a map in one hand and nothing but a rumor in the other. This young mercenary had heard from a few folks in a Magnolian tavern that one of the ten Wizard Saints had left Fiore a few years ago to deal with a serious threat of dragons in Iceberg on his own, but that was hardly the interesting part. No, what interested little Haretsa the most was the name of this particular Wizard Saint. ”Ysmir Dovahsebrom… The Drunk Dragon of Eclipse Soul…. Reiki Shikon…” she muttered aloud, her words being swallowed up by the raging winds around her. This man shared the same last name as Haretsa and that was why she was so determined to find him. If there was any slim chance that there was a relative of her’s still alive that she didn’t know about, then Haretsa felt it necessary to pursue it no matter how slim of a chance it was that he would be alive or even know who she was.

Lighting a small flame on one of her fingers, Haretsa held it up to the map to ensure she was on the right path. ”Alesund shouldn’t be too much farther… That’s where the dragon attacks were reported, so someone there has to know something about Reiki…” Haretsa’s thoughts rang aloud as the winds continued their fight against her to no avail. She had done as much research as she could on the attack two years ago; forced to do so on her own due to her occupation. Haretsa was a mercenary and while Mage Guilds did jobs for money all the same as she, she abided to no rules or laws the same way the Legal Guilds did. As far as the Magic Council was concerned, Haretsa was probably considered to be no better than some Dark Mage. They would hardly divulge any information to someone like her; especially when it concerned one of their Wizard Saints and an emergency from another country. Haretsa could care less what the Council thought of her as long as she was helping people. She would find out what happened to Reiki with or without their help.

Thirty minutes felt like days in this nightmarish weather before hazel orbs finally caught a glimpse of a small light off in the distance. The wind and snow finally began to calm down as the cream haired mage pressed onward towards this light; the village of Alesund seeming to spring forth out of the snow itself. Finally able to see the cloud filled sky after what felt like an eternity, Haretsa could tell it was starting to get late into the evening. While she had slept in the snow without a problem due to her heated body, Haretsa longed for the comfort of a bed that she hadn’t felt since she left Fiore. Folding the map up and shoving it into one of her pockets, Haretsa took off in a full sprint into the village looking for the local inn or tavern; ignoring all the looks of shock she received from the local villagers concerning how she was dressed. When she burst through the doors of what looked to be the tavern, these looks of shock seemed to stop only due to the fact that most of the patrons were too drunk to notice the girls entrance. Once she had closed the door behind her, the first thing Haretsa’s laid eyes on was a child sitting alone at a table; her face buried into her arms as if she was passed out drunk. What struck Haretsa as odd, aside from the girls dark pink locks, was the jacket that this child was wearing. It was jet black leather jacket with a rather strange logo emblazoned upon the back in an icy blue. This jacket was several sizes too large for a child such as her, so why on earth was she wearing it; and why was that logo on the back of it strangely familiar to Haretsa?

With her overly loving attitude kicking in, Haretsa approached the young girls table with a smile as warm as the magic she wielded plastered upon her features. ”Hey kiddo, you alright?” Haretsa asked, prompting the girl to lift her head towards this foreign voice. ”No, I’m really no-... W-WHERE THE HECK ARE YOUR CLOTHES?!!” the young girl shouted in shock when she saw Haretsa’s attire. ”Uhh… on my body…?” Haretsa responded, looking down and tugging on her tanktop to make sure that it was still attached. The pink haired girl couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Standing before her was a woman who had traveled through the coldest country in all of Ishgar without any kind of protective clothing. The young girl had only met one other person capable of such a thing. ”Um… if you don’t mind me asking ar...are you an… Ice Dragon Slayer… like he was?” she asked, shying away a bit at the mention of those words. ”Well, I am a Dragon Slayer, but I’m uh… kinda the opposite of ice. I’m… guessing by he you’re referring to my broth-” ”YOU’RE REIKI’S SISTER!?!” she exclaimed, flailing her arms about in excitement with the jacket’s sleeves flopping about. Before Haretsa could even open her mouth again to ask this girl what she knew about Reiki, the pink haired child leapt into her arms and looked her dead in the eyes; tears of joy beginning to form in the child’s scarlet eyes. ”Th-That means you’re really strong like he was, right?! No one will let me visit him anymore cuz they keep saying its too dangerous… but it’ll be ok if I’m with you!! You’ll come visit him with me, right?!” the child asked with the most hopeful expression Haretsa had ever seen in her young life. She didn’t know what exactly was so dangerous about where Reiki was residing, but she was here to find him in the first place; how could she say no to a child who wanted to visit him too? ”Of course I will, you just lead the way and I’ll protect you from whatever’s dangerous!” Haretsa answered, her hope being renewed by the child’s words. It seemed her brother was alive after all. ”YAYYYYYYYYYY!!! Let’s go back to my place so I can get everything ready!!!” the child exclaimed, leaping out of Haretsa’s arms and leading her by the hand out of the tavern. ”Oops, I forgot to introduce myself!! My name is Lillith! Its nice to meet you...um…” ”Haretsa.” Haretsa answered softly, resulting in a nod from Lillith before she turned around again and charged forth towards her house.


When Lillith pushed open the door to her home, Haretsa’s eyes widened as the child ran around gathering things together. This house was clearly intended for only one person to live in which concerned Haretsa greatly. If this was Lillith’s house, then where would her parents be? Haretsa’s concern was written on her face like an open book; causing Lillith to stop what she was doing and look over at the mage. ”You’re wondering where my parents are, huh…?” she asked. ”Most people wonder that when they visit and see that I live here… The dragons took them away two years ago when they attacked the village…. When Reiki came to deal with them he.. He took care of me a lot… said he knew what it was like to not have any parents… That’s why I got upset when the guards told me I couldn’t go and see him anymore…” Lillith explained, hitting Haretsa’s heart strings hard. She knew all too well the pain Lillith was going through; having seen her own mother murdered before her very own eyes when she was younger. Lillith was about the same age Haretsa was when she lost her parents, which caused her to feel even more for the poor child. She walked up and knelt down before wrapping Lillith up in a big hug. ”Everything’s gonna be ok Lilly.” was all she could utter from her lips as the child rested her head upon Haretsa’s shoulder. It was the first hug Lillith had received in quite a long time, so she decided to cherish it while it lasted. ”I know… I’m finally gonna see Reiki after so long! Oh, here, he would want you to wear this! I’ve been training in using Ice Magic, so the cold doesn’t bother me too much; though I still need to wear something at least. I’m sure he’d rather you have his jacket though!” she said, removing the oversized leather jacket and handing it to Haretsa. She accepted it without another word, throwing on the jacket and feeling a strange warmth emanating from it as Lillith grabbed another jacket and went back to gathering more of her things.

It’s a bit of a hike to where Reiki is, so let’s get going!!” Lillith happily exclaimed, leading Haretsa out of the village’s northern gate. A bit of a hike ended up being an understatement, as the two walked for what must have been ten miles before Lillith came to a halt. The surrounding area was incredibly dark to see due to the constantly cloudy skies, making Haretsa slightly confused as Lillith turned to her. ”We’re here!!! You use fire, right? Could you use some on the spot right in front of me? I know it sounds weird, but it’ll trigger something special!” Lillith asked with joy. This was a rather strange request, but it was one Haretsa could definitely fulfill with ease. Nodding to Lillith, Haretsa stepped forward in front of the child before setting one of her feet ablaze and stomping down into the ground. The flames from Haretsa’s foot triggered a rune buried underneath the snow that began to light up the surrounding sky with threads of shimmering orange and red lights. These lights illuminated their surroundings incredibly well and once they had, Haretsa’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she looked around in awe. Surrounding the two girls were five ridiculously large mountains of ice; each one glimmering in the dancing lights above and containing the corpse of a dragon inside of it. Haretsa couldn’t believe what she was seeing. These dragons were enormous and the ice that serves as their tombs was even bigger. It was at this moment that she realized there was no sky where they were standing. The ice that encased all these dragons was all linked together and formed together into one enormous, jagged looking igloo of sorts with the lights from the rune she had triggered shining throughout it all. Where the two girls now stood must have looked like a giant beacon to others from the outside. Looking directly ahead of them, Haretsa noticed a strangely shaped, icey blue gem that was surrounded by a lovely array of blue and white flowers the likes of which she had never seen before. She stared at the gem in confusion as Lillith removed a bag of seeds from her backpack and began planting them around the flowers already around this gem.

”What… what is all this…?” Haretsa managed to stutter out; still in awe of everything around her. ”These are the dragons Reiki killed two years ago and this is where my hero lives! I helped him decorate with all the flowers he said someone he really loved a lot would like. I hope they come to visit some day too!!” Lillith explained, taking the blue gem in her arms once she had finished planting the seeds. She then walked up to Haretsa and held the gem out to the cream haired mage. ”Look Reiki, your sister came to visit you!!” she exclaimed, causing Haretsa to realize just what the gem Lillith was holding onto was. ”Th...that’s… his Dragon Lacrima… right? So he’s… he really is…” she stuttered out, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. This act caused the smile from Lillith’s face to fade quickly as she realized what she had done. ”Oh… oh no…. Yo-you didn’t know he…? I… I thought you knew and were coming to visit here like I always did… I... I-I-I’m sorry..!!” Lillith apologized, being on the verge of tears herself. Haretsa quickly wrapped her hands around the childs, holding onto her brothers lacrima as well as she did her best to hold back the water leaking from her eyes. ”It’s ok Lilly, you had no way of knowing… I came here to see if he was still alive and… he’s not… It’s ok. At least I know now I still don’t have a family…” she said ruefully before turning back towards the entrance to this frozen tomb. ”I need you to cover your ears for a bit, Lilly… this is gonna be really loud…” Haretsa explained, Lillith doing what the mage requested as she watched her step back outside into the night. The cream haired mage’s body began to tremble all over as the tears began to pour down like a waterfall from her eyes. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. Rearing her head back, an enormous aura of flames erupted from her body and shot into the night sky coupled with the roar of a dragon that echoed for miles. This roar wasn’t one of pride or triumph though, but was instead one filled with anguish and sorrow. Lillith looked on in shock, surprised to see that Haretsa could also imitate the vocals of a dragon just the same as Reiki could. The magical aura that the young child felt radiating from the Dragon Slayer was unlike anything she had ever felt before in her life; it was beyond overwhelming. Haretsa’s roar of anguish lasted a good ten seconds before the flames of her aura were reigned back in and her mouth closed. She wiped her right arm across both of her eyes before returning to the igloo, kneeling down to Lillith’s height and taking the lacrima in her own arms; hugging it like it was her only possession in the entire world. ”Ya know… you could have at least written me a postcard once in awhile… jackass... “ Haretsa laughed through her tears; Lillith still in shock over the brief display of power from the Dragon Slayer. Not knowing what else to do, Lillith simply hugged Haretsa as good as her little arms could; the lacrima of the deceased Wizard Saint between the two of them at their hearts.