Mountain of The Suns • Book 2

Epilogue

It felt as though this was Deja vu as I packed my things and made my way down to the temples main courtyard. I shouldered my bag still feeling stiff in my side were I had been stabbed just weeks ago. While a normal wound would have healed by now the Wisteria almost prevented it from healing half as quickly even with nurse Gia and Jun.

I tried to not let it bother me as I came out into the courtyard. I saw a lot of people saying their goodbyes and what not all over the place. The two group of students from each of the Temple had seemingly made friends over the last few weeks. It was wholesome to see them all together despite not having known each other when we all came into this.

I wish I had that with people here but there was a reason I was at home when I was at Ebisu. This temple was a sore spot for me because I had seen some of my darkest times here. Ebisu was when things got better and I had fell for Jun. That was where I had truly started to enjoy my time. Frankly those were the only good things that have even happened for me in the last year.

I looked to the Wisteria tree which was covered in snow, but it looked like it had done a great deal of growing even since I saw it 2 months ago. Normally trees didn't grow this fast but it was sacred grounds so it was unsurprising. Though I had remembered the leaves being white and fresh and now they were turning a pale purple color. Almost a lavender which was odd, I wouldn't have expected to see such a warm color in the winter months.

I looked away from the tree and the students who stood under it. Snow was lightly falling but I knew as soon as the afternoon sun came overhead the snow would melt. We were nearing the end of the year so winter would soon be gone and spring would be back in full swing.

I craved the warm sun and blooming greens of Ebisu as I had been in the cold mountains for weeks now. I was cold to my core and I wanted to be back in the warm summer heat again. I felt a presence at my side and I turned to see Goro.

"Do you ever just walk up to someone like normal?" I asked with a soft laugh.

"I like to see how long it takes people to notice." He said and I saw one of his rare Goro soft smile.

"How long did it take me?" I asked him knowing he'd been especially famous for sneaking up on me without me noticing for quite a while.

"2 seconds." He said with a defeated tone.

"How long does it take Ollie?" I asked turning my nose up.

"2 minutes." He said almost wanting to chuckle.

"Jun?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I've yet to sneak up on him." He said with a sigh.

"Catch him when he's studying. I once trimmed his hair almost to completion before he noticed." I said with a giggle.

"He does get hyper focused on his books... I'll have to remember that." He said and I saw his focused face as he took that mental note.

"You ready to get out of here?" I asked him wondering what he wanted to do.

"I like the cold. Ebisu is nice but Jizo was amazing. I liked it there." Goro said looking around. Frankly Jizo and Yabune had a lot more calm and quiet people like him, frankly I'm surprised he kept up with how rough and tough the other temple was especially with their social hours.

"I'm sure you could go there and train if you really wanted." I stated.

"My friends are at Ebisu." He said shaking his head and I could see he was adamant.

"That they are." I said looking at him. "Does Ebisu get cold in the winters?"

"No, rainy maybe." He said shaking his head. "Does it get warm here during the summers?"