Chapter 14: The Warrior Is A Child

Santa brought up his magical sword just in time as one of King Frost's Ice Soldiers lunged at him in a wild rage. Parrying the enemy soldier's blow, Santa knocked him back with a blast of bright green fire from his left hand. He darted forward with a loud war cry, stabbing the Ice Soldier clean through the chest before finishing him off with a blow to the head.

One down; too many more to go.

Pummeling snow from the blizzard stung Santa's face as he fended off foe after foe with both his magic and his sword. The usual tranquil sky of the north pole was filled with Night Mares, Fairies, and Giant Bats as the war between the Guardians raged on. It had been a long time since Santa had fought like this, but he knew he couldn't give up. If King Frost and his allies broke through their line, humanity was doomed.

"Saint Nicholas!"

Santa knew who it was in an instant, and whirled around to face the livid King Frost. The livid King's enchanted Winter Blade dripped with the blood of many elves, fairies, and soldiers from Beowulf's kingdom. His eyes, always cold and calculating, gazed upon the giver of gifts with a mighty, overpowering glare that anyone else would've shrank back from.

But not Santa.

"I'd long suspected you would pull something treacherous to challenge my rule," King Frost snarled. "But to throw away your life for the sake of humans. You have sunk to a new low!"

Santa said nothing and only raised his sword in reply.

"After what that boy did, we can no longer hide behind the curtains of children's books and folktales!" King Frost continued on his tirade. "After the new beginnings started by Initiis Novis, the Sacred Balance shall be restored!"

"Then come and restore it, you monster!" Santa hollered. The two foes charged at one another, the clang of their swords echoing for miles as the battle raged on.

.......................................

Ideally, one's home was to be a place of peace and quiet.

For Nishikata, the recently cleaned living room of his parent's home, with the same light blue wallpaper, brown carpet, and worn-out furniture was anything but that.

"I'm sorry we didn't believe you Nishikata, truly, I am," Nishikata heard his mother sob yet again. "Please, I only thought I was protecting you trying to take your mind off of what happened!"

"Well look how that worked out!" Nishikata shouted back.

"Enough!" Nishikata's father stepped in. "I don't care how old you are son, you will not speak to your mother that way!"

"What are you going to do about it, old man?" Nishikata challenged.

Nishikata's father looked hurt, and Nishikata couldn't help but be surprised. He'd expected his father to respond in kind, but instead he just expressed his honest emotional reaction.

Honest with his emotions...a skill that Nishikata had never been gifted in all his training.

"Son...am I one of the enemies you faced on your missions that you stand there and challenge me?"

Nishikata didn't know how, or why, but something in the eyes of his parents stopped him in his tracks. Was it their sorrow? Their regret? Was it a lack of strength on his part to demand they atone for their invalidation of his torment? Nishikata had no answer. All he could do was walk over to the navy-blue sofa and sit down as his tears began to flow. Yet even after his outburst, Nishikata's parents came to comfort him, providing him the assurance he needed all those years ago when he'd wished Takagi away.

The living room was silent for a time, except for the tears of Nishikata and his parents. Just a few short days ago, Nishikata would've been trying to maintain his stone-cold demeanor and push himself away from the embrace of those who had raised him. Even now, Nishikata still couldn't comprehend why he was acting the way he was. Had losing his exterior armor and weapons reduced his defenses on the inside?

And that was when Nishikata realized.

Deep down, inside all his armor, he was still a child.

A child who'd wished away one of the best friendships and affection one could ask for.

A child who was still seeking the support and guidance of his parents, and whose resentment towards their unbelief had gone unchecked.

A child who wanted nothing more than to go back to the simpler times of his childhood, before he'd met Takagi. Before he'd stumbled upon Krampus's book.

And most importantly, a child who was seeking forgiveness for the egregious act he had committed.

"How can I go back and face her!" Nishikata finally admitted, a great burden finally being lifted from his shoulders. "How can I ever hope to restore what I destroyed!"

His parents had no answer, and Nishikata continued to weep. Then, at last, his mother spoke up.

"I don't know, son," she said in a soft, gentle voice. "Because you're right. What you did was wrong. And it did indeed happen. It was real."

She paused.

"Telling Takagi you regret what you did won't solve everything...but it's a start."

.................................

"So, how is it?" Mina asked as Takagi dug into her lunch. Takagi had requested some time out on the second-floor balcony of the hospital, and Mina had obliged her patient without complaint. The pleasant winter wind blew through their hair, and the birds chirped a merry tune as they perched in the nearby trees.

"Well, better than the lunches we would get back in middle school, that's for sure," Takagi said with a weak smile, setting her utensils back down on the black table.

"Not really a high bar, Takagi," Mina replied.

"I don't exactly have too many things to compare it to now do I?"

Mina was puzzled. "Huh?"

"I ate nothing but the same meals every day for ten years," Takagi reminded her.

"Oh...oh!" Mina gasped. "I'm so sorry Takagi, I didn't mean to sound inconsiderate."

"No no, you're fine," Takagi smiled back. "I didn't mean to catch you off guard. It's just really difficult to process being back here after such a long time of being gone."

Mina put a hand on her friend's shoulder to comfort her. The young nurse had to admit that it was hard to understand what Takagi had suffered. Killed by a supernatural being no one believed existed, only to wake up and suffer more torment in a cursed magical prison?

There truly was more to the world around them than met the eye.

"I'm not going to pretend like I know what you're going through Takagi," Mina said. "Because I don't. But I can guarantee you I'll be here for you every step of your recovery and even after you're released from the hospital. Just come to Yukari or myself if you ever need to, okay?"

Takagi was taken aback by Mina's kind words, for Mina hadn't seen her for years. Perhaps her time enduring all the heartless torment and mockery at the hands of Krampus's pawns had affected her response to kindness. As such, Takagi didn't know what to say at first. Then, for the first time in a long time, she broke into a laugh.

"You're just as kind and bubbly as you were back in middle school, Mina."

"Some things never change," Mina chuckled. "Yukari is still a worry wart, Hojo still takes everything seriously, and Sinai is still an athlete."

"Who is still a worry wart now?" Yukari's voice sounded behind them.

"Well you are of—," Mina began, then her eyes lit up when she saw Yukari's patient.

"Sinai!"

"Hey Mina," Sinai greeted in her usual lifeless voice. "Just here for some help with an injury I had at practice."

That was when Sinai noticed the familiar face sitting next to her longtime friend, and she squinted her eyes. And for the first time in a long time, Sinai's normally expressionless face broke into a look of surprise.

"Takagi?"

"Sinai!" Takagi beamed, running over to hug her old friend. "I'm so glad to see you here!"

"So it really is true then. You were one of the people to be rescued from that island!" Sinai laughed back. Mina, as usual, began hounding Sinai with questions about how her athletic career had been going, which piqued Takagi's interest in turn.

Yukari, for her part, couldn't help but be glad. It was simple moments like this, of joy and laughter, that made her job worth it.

As things usually went, though, this moment of peace was fleeting.

"Excuse me, Ms. Takagi?" another staff member spoke up from behind.

The group of friends turned to see one of the custodians approaching them.

"Yes? Takagi answered.

"You have a visitor," the short, middle-aged custodian informed her. "A Ren Nishikata? Does that name sound familiar?"

Yukari clenched her fists.

"What? I informed security to restrict him from visiting Takagi again," Yukari said.

"He's—he's been in the front lobby for the past twenty minutes," the custodian explained. "He made quite the scene and security agreed he could visit Ms. Takagi quickly as long as they escort him."

"No, send him away at once," Yukari snapped. But Takagi stepped in.

"It's fine, Yukari. You and Mina please help me to my room. Sinai can come too. I'm okay with it as long as all of you are there."

Yukari was not at all in favor of Takagi's decision, but it was her call as the patient so Yukari and her friends obliged. In just a few short minutes, Takagi was laying back in her hospital bed with Yukari, Mina, and Sinai standing to the right whilst Nishikata stood in front of her with two security guards behind him.

Same as before, Nishikata's plebian attire of blue jeans, a brown button-down shirt, black belt and black shoes was a far cry from his authoritative dress of either suit and tie or combat gear that he'd worn for the past ten years. In this moment, here and now, he was nothing more than an ordinary man.

An ordinary man with an extraordinary wrong to right.

"What do you want Nishikata," Yukari growled. "Hurry up and make it quick."

"Oh, that's right. You were saying you had something to do with Takagi's disappearance back when it first happened right?" Sinai said in a nonchalant tone.

"Yes," Nishikata answered, still looking off to the side.

"Guys, please, let Nishikata say what he has to say," Mina advocated. Nishikata smirked. She always had been one to be empathetic. She never would've made it into the CEA.

"What is it, Nishikata?" Takagi asked.

"It was my fault."

Never before had that phrase carried so much weight, nor generated as tense a silence as the one that filled the room.

"I'm the one who never stopped to think about why you teased me," Nishikata continued on. "I'm the one who took your friendship and kindness for granted. I'm the one who wrote that wish down in that book. It was all me."

Takagi felt a lump form in her throat, and attempted to swallow it down. But her soul was crushed as Nishikata's weary, guilty gaze met hers as the former slayer of criminals looked her in the eye at last.

"You didn't do this to me Takagi," Nishikata admitted. "I did. The boy you knew in middle school is gone. I am what remains."

The two burly security guards remained expressionless as they continued to observe the room, ready to pounce if Nishikata made any false move. Much to their surprise though, it wasn't Nishikata who unleashed a rageful torrent of words and began hurling objects.

It was Takagi.

"Who do you think you are?" she abruptly screamed, hurling an extra pillow at Nishikata.

"Takagi, please! Settle down!" Mina implored.

"Is that really all you have to say?" Takagi rebuked Nishikata. "Do you have any idea what your hateful response to my teasing did to mt family and I? I'm twenty-three years old now, Nishikata! But unlike the rest of you I never had a chance to live out those years! I have no driver's license, no memories, not even a high school diploma! You killed me in middle school, Nishikata. Middle school!"

Nishikata's face may have been void of any reaction, but his hanging head as Takagi stated the consequences of his naïve, boyish anger in raw detail said it all.

"I missed so many birthday parties, holidays, and reunions. Time that I could've spent with my family and friends," Takagi continued to shout, the tears now streaming down her face. "And you took that away. All for what? Some teasing!"

Nothing within arms reach was safe as Takagi grabbed a nearby plate, cup, and tray and threw them at the man she once loved in an animalistic tirade.

"Get out, get out, get out!"

Nishikata had learned at least a hundred different ways to shield himself from projectile attacks during his time in the CEA. But the disgraced, dejected former agent did not use a single one of them as the security guards dragged him out of the cramped hospital room. It took several minutes for Mina and Yukari to calm Takagi down as she buried her face in her hands and cried more tears than she ever had in her lifetime.

"Why, it's all my fault Yukari!" Takagi wailed. "I didn't even know his full name!"

........................................

Public transportation. Although the buses in Japan weren't quite as bad as the New York subway Nishikata had spent many years taking, it was still a long ways down from rides in high-tech government jets and helicopters. Much to his fortune however, the CEA had also taught Nishikata how to be adaptable. So the veteran crime-fighter didn't have to much to complain about as he stared out the bus window on the ride home.

Were those storm clouds he saw gathering in the distance, just beyond the coast? That was odd; the forecast had called only for overcast weather and pleasant temperatures for the next week. And something about the clouds themselves seemed odd, like they themselves were moving with malicious intent.

Nishikata shrugged it off. Even if they were, what was he to do about it? Turn into Zeus and control the weather? He remembered a time where Takagi had caught him pretending to manipulate the wind during a typhoon, and became disgusted with himself. Takagi had the teasing high-ground back then, and the moral high ground now. Always having an advantage over him, same as it ever was.

By the time Nishikata departed the bus, the storm had made landfall, and pummeling rain stung Nishikata's skin as he began the walk home. Unpleasant as it was, Nishikata had trained in much harsher environments than this. He would fare just fine.

Or so he thought.

As the veteran crime fighter made his way through his neighborhood, he noticed the shadows around him grow much darker and the thunder increase in volume as day turned to night. The plain overcast sky was now filled with thick, black, billowing clouds and Nishikata knew something was off. He increased his pace as he rounded the last few corners. Something was not right about this storm at all, and he began to fear for his parents.

At last, Nishikata reached the front door, and he fumbled for his house keys as the biting cold irritated the exposed skin on his hands.

And then it struck him.

The last time he had felt this cold...was when King Frost's Ice Soldiers had come to apprehend him.

That was when Nishikata sensed it. Someone was behind him. And not just any average robber, purse snatcher, or foreign agent. He turned to face his aggressor.

A flash of lightning revealed the woman's demonic features, from the ragged, uncombed black hair atop her head to her monstrous teeth and white dress stained with blood. The woman's terrible smile complimented the dark gaze of her foul eyes perfectly. Nishikata gasped. She was an agent alright...an agent sent by King Frost.

"Hola, Agente Nishikata," La Llorona greeted. "You have disrupted the Sacred Balance. You are to be exterminated."