My Last Chance [Made in Abyss Fanfiction]

02| Frigid Reception

My home country is supposedly one of the most beautiful in the north, a sprawling landscape of snow-capped mountains, valleys, tundras, and pine forests all rimmed in frigid bays or steep cliffs. I never saw it as such, only seeing the monotony of white and gray while knowing about the treacherous work that took place within the caverns and tunnels boring through those pristine peaks.

However, as I now stand on the uppermost cliffs of the Fifth Layer, I finally understand the kind of beauty my youthful and naïeve eyes once overlooked. It's like I'm overlooking the bay of my home city from the ridge I wasn't supposed to climb but did so anyways. A flat, steel-gray sheet of water that touches a rocky beach and extends out into the darkness far ahead. The Fifth Layer is the shallowest but widest layer of the Abyss, with the Sea of Corpses seemingly encompassing most of it. I can't see the ebb of the tide from where I stand, but I can see the rolling snowy hills, layered ridges, and clusters of pine trees. If the sky weren't dark, I swear I'd be merely looking at a different section of the bay.

"If only you could see this with your own eyes, Addy," I mutter, taking her into my thick-gloved palm. I'd bought gear for a climate I thought would be colder ages ago, but it now seems to be worth what I spent on it. I would've tried to pull another tone from her, but Bronze Spark is now clasped around my wrist, sending gentle heat through my body. After all, I don't want to set my coat on fire. I sigh, my breath pluming before me in an opaque cloud.

A freezing gale blows against me, whipping my coat out behind me and peppering my hair with specks of snow. I feel the sting of the snow but not the cold, Bronze Spark along with the new layers I'd put on managing to keep it at bay. Meanwhile, Melva still shivers in her coat and gloves, the brown cloak she'd put on pulled tightly around her body.

I give her a worried look. "You can use Bronze Spark if you need to. You're not as used to the cold as I am."

"N-nah, I'm fine," she says around her chattering teeth. "Ya come b-before me, kid."

"And you won't be able to look out for me if you aren't well. You told me this yourself, and you can't be a hypocrite," I say, unclasping the bracelet and holding it out to her. I refuse to pull my hand away until she takes it and puts it on. Her shivering lessens some afterwards, and I smile. "Thank you, Melva."

She scoffs, and then her jaw drops a little. "Ya don't even look cold, an' I'm still shakin'. Were ya born in a damn ice bath or somethin'?"

"Funnily enough, our power went out the day I was born because an avalanche took out part of the city's power station. My grandfather had to deliver me by candlelight," I say with a nervous smile. "Grandpa Len worked by candlelight for decades before the steam and coal brought power to our cities, so he was used to it."

"I forgot ya were named after your gramps," Melva says, shaking her head. "But I guess this place has some kinda nostalgia for ya?"

My smile fades some, though it still remains. "It does... and it's almost nice. The seagulls would always fly over the bay at dawn, crowing up a racket as loud as a rooster. I swear I can almost hear them—" I stop when a distant trill rings out. At least it somewhat sounds like one, a bird's trill combined with a joyful-sounding whoop. I search where the horizon would be, but Melva tugs on my sleeve and points more towards the shoreline closest to us.