Chapter 2

She swung her hands and acted as if she was a soldier marching in a parade while the old man watched it in amusement.

About a minute passed as they continued on to the school. It was now that they came across a playground. The playground was rather wide and the open hill could be seen behind it.

The hill was covered in dense trees and foliage and there were several paths that went around it. Seeing this, the old man decided upon the story for today.

"Do you want to hear the story about that hill, Little Aria?" The old man asked.

Aria who had now switched to skipping around stopped midway. She stood on one leg and turned half way around before speaking.

"Hill?" Aria said before standing normally and looking at the hill the old man was pointing to.

"Ah! The scary hill!" Aria said.

"No, no, no. That's not a scary hill Aria. That hill is called the Sanctuary hill." The old man corrected.

"San-tury-hill?" Aria tried to pronounce.

"Sanctuary hill." The old man repeated.

"Sanctuary hill?" Aria said again.

"That's right." The old man replied with a smile.

"What does that mean? Everyone says that hill is scary and ghosts live on it." Aria said while placing her palms on her cheek as if scared.

"That hill was actually a really nice place when I was a kid. It is called the sanctuary hill because people used to take refuge there in olden times. Sanctuary means a safe place." The old man explained.

"Take refuge? What did they take refuge from?" Aria questioned.

"A lot of things. Some kids took refuge when they were scolded and ran way to hide on the hill. Some older people went there to be safe from the problems they had, while old people like me went there to take refuge from out problems at home.

There were many problems that people had and for all those they went to that hill. It was magical back then, once you went there it felt calming and safe." The old man answered.

"Then why does no one go there now?" Aria asked.

~Sigh~

Hearing this the old man sighed and continued talking while holding Aria's hand.

"Things change as time passes. More buildings and houses were added to this place and people got more busy. At one point, they just stopped going there, deciding to take refuge in the many other places that were newly built instead." The Old man spoke.

"Ooo… that seems interesting, but why do people say its haunted now?" Aria asked again.

"Well I think that might be due to the old Shrine there." The old man replied.

"A shrine? For a deity?" Aria asked.

"Yes. It is said that an even longer time ago, there used to be a shine on that hill. It used to belong to a deity that used to protect this land. You should be respectful if you ever go there.

Even if a long time has passed, we shouldn't forget the memories and precious things of the past. It is because people forgot about it that they now call it haunted" The old man explained.

"Okay! I'll keep that in mind." Aria said.

"Good girl." The old man said as he patter Aria's head.

The two of them lightly chatted along the way and finally reached the school. The school was rather large and had multiple buildings, but the one where Aria was to go was the kindergarten department which was a smaller building right near the entrance of the entire complex.

"Here you go, now have lot's of fun. I'll get you in the afternoon." The old man said.

"Okay!" Aria said as she waved her hand in goodbye.

The teacher who stood outside for the students smiled seeing the kids enter and waited for all to arrive before speaking.

"Today we have a special surprise for you all. We will be going on a little field trip!" The teacher announced.

"YAY!!!!" Shouts of excitement could be heard everywhere as the kids yelled.

A few more teachers arrived and quickly got to work with the children. After a few minutes, of organization, the kids were paired up and told to hold hands before they all left the school.

In total, there were five teachers and three classes which included a total of sixty kindergartens.

"Miss Lita, where are we going though?" One of the kids asked.

"We are going to the Sanctuary hill to see the plants and learn a bit more about them." The teacher named Lita answered.

"Sanctuary hill? THAT SCARY HILL!?" Some of the kids recognized the name.

"Don't worry it's not scary at all and is rather beautiful. We will all be with you so you don't need to worry." The teachers assured.