It seemed like her entire world was against her. Family, both immediate and distant, were either pleading with her to stay or laughing at her apparent childish antics. Friends from grade school and the internet were doubting her seriousness or ignored her complete notion of climbing the mountain. Essentially, Corsina was left alone in her endeavor to trek the fabled peak. With everyone around her dismissing her quest, the only person who gave some sort of support or counsel was her father.
He brought her to the town closest to the base of Mt. Ebott, which wasn't much more than a village. They were walking through a steady flow of market patriots and supply wagons when Corsina's father stopped at a stall to look at some goods. As he browsed from the counter, Corsina wandered forth, looking for nothing in particular. She eventually reached the outer reach of the market district and found the silhouette of Mt. Ebott. Behind the simple mountain, the sun was setting lazily to produce the lovely colors of yellow, orange, and faded to a deep blue. It was a painted scene in front of the girl, but she had never felt more sure of anything in her life. It was hard to describe, but with the source of the her favorite childhood fable in sight, she could almost hear the sloping peak call to her. Something in her was telling her to climb it, to skip the last night she had with her father and simply run up the scape and vanish from the "over ground." Some friends even told her that she was obsessed with the tale of the monsters and should seek medical help. But this was something different; the idea of trekking the mountain came to her in a dream. It was years since her parents retold the tale of the monsters, so surely, that wasn't it? As stated before, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she needed to scour the surface, she needed to hike up the rocky face, and she needed to be among the trees.
Silently, she studied the gentle scene before her, for the next evening, the view will be of the village, engulfed by the moderate peak. It was an unknown amount of time before her peaceful glance of Mt. Ebott was broken by a tug at her sleeve. Following the new presence, Corsina found a child by her side, holding the cup of her jacket. The child's hair was just long enough to touch their shoulders and wore a striped sweater; a near blank expression as adorned on their face.
"Can I help you, sweetie?" Corsina crouched down to be face to face with the child, who seemed anywhere between 10 and 13 years old. The child stared at Corsina for a moment, then at Mt. Ebott. Corsina smiled and glanced with the child's eyes. "Yeah, I'm going there soon. Tell me, do you think I'm too old to believe in fairy tales too?" That was one thing that was constant in her life; everyone telling her that she should just grow up and focus on her future.
While Corsina was staring at the mountain, the child quickly wrapped their arms around her neck and embraced her gingerly. This action startled Corsina, however, after her initial flinch, she returned the hug.
"Aww," Corsina giggled lightly and gave a heartwarming smile to the child. "You're so friendly and-"
"You can't give up," the child faintly whispers in Corsina's ear. She held her breath in confusion, waiting for the child to say anything else. Subconsciously, Corsina loosened her grip around the young human. "Stay determined…"
Corsina didn't have the chance to question the strange words of the child before they let her go and calmly walked away. As the words bounced around in her mind, Corsina stared after the mysterious child until they seemed to disappear behind the semi-busy market street. Her brain was dazed and still processing the strange words by the time her father had returned from the stall. He was hesitant to say anything to his daughter because of her unfocused gaze into the crowd of villagers. Instead, he cleared his throat to gain her attention.
"I bought you something," her father held up an odd looking statue. Corsina straightened herself up and examined the object in his hands. It was thin and long and had an unknown figure engraved in it. It resembled a serpent with two tails and three eyes.
"What is that?" her voice was laced with her slight disgust for the statue.
"It's uh," her father handed it to her and placed his hands in his pocket on his jeans, "Lucky entity of this region. In trying times, it's local lore to rub the three eyes of the snake. And when facing a decision you trace the tails to help choose the right one."
As her father spoke, she followed the directions, first making tiny circles on the eyes and then running her thumb down the tails. "Oh, that is pretty cool," Corsina grinned a little and brought her eyes to her father. "Thank you, Dad. But why?" Did he somehow know I was going to sneak out of the hotel and climb the mountain?
"Well, since you're super fascinated with this area, figured I should get you a souvenir." Her father pulled a hand out of his pockets and draped it around her shoulders, applying slight pressure to turn his daughter away from the summit of Mt. Ebott. "Now, we'll spend the night here then we've got to get back, a'ight? I don't have any more vacation days and you have finals coming up." Using his arm, Corsina's father led the way back to the hotel; she enjoyed the golden flowers sprouting up along the roads.