Snow's hand struck James' head, knocking him out with one blow. She grabbed him by the side, dragging him into a chair that she had brought over in the morning. Quickly adjusting him to look like he was taking a momentary rest, she sat him down. Placing a helmet over his head. 

“Sorry, bud. I got a job to do.” Snow pushed his shoulders back onto the wall. “I’ll never see you again.”

Snow broke away. She reached out. She pulled out a copy of a key that Levian had given her. Fishing it into the hole, a soft click sounded off, telling her that she had succeeded in opening the first keyhole. She then went through five more different varieties of keys, until finally they were all unlocked. 

Grabbing both ends of a lever, she slid it to the side. A loud clunk could be heard, and she opened the very doors that she was guarding. She knew that there were multiple traps laid and where each trap was. Carefully, almost tiptoeing, she jumped around not to land on each spot. 

A few times, she almost set off the alarms. She had to correct herself in the last second. It took a good while to slink her way towards the front, where she could get to the safe. Frowning at the amount of security that she had to go through, she licked her lips—one last to go. 

Snow raised her hand, lighting it with a thin coat of fire magic. Her control was precise and almost unnoticeable to the naked eye. Gently, but surely, she reached over. The fire condensed, becoming hotter. 

At first, the magical energy crackled against a high-level magical barrier that she had personally dispelled. Her fingers went through and hit against the very metal. A soft hissing sound followed after, and the metal glowed hot and red. It didn’t take long for Snow to melt through the metal and even open up the case. 

Rummaging through her pocket, she placed a note and grabbed the item. It was a small red ruby, which she didn’t find as unusual. It looked like any other plain rubies. Even the magical energy inside the ruby was void, making her wonder if it was a dud. Was it? She hopes not. 

There were a few more priceless artifacts that she had taken out as well. Small little trinkets of value weren’t jewelry but artifacts that were dolls and even a small black box the size of a quarter. She had a strange feeling that this black box was important, but didn’t remember what for. 

Out of all the treasures, she had the feeling that the Black Box had the highest value. Putting the item away, she placed it inside her storage.

“That wasn’t so hard.” Snow turned back to go through the traps again. This time, she flew through without much trouble, exiting out the door. 

Closing the door behind her, she heard a familiar voice. 

 “Snow?”

Snow squinted. She turned around, looking for the voice. Upon stopping, she realized that it was the co-leader of Gold Phoenix, Dairen. He stood in place, unsure if he saw things. For a moment, he rubbed his eyes. 

 What were the chances that he would be visiting today? She wasn’t too thrilled to see him here.

“Snow. What are you doing here? No. Don’t you know we have been looking for you for a long time?”

“Why would you?” Snow carefully asked. Was she caught? The thought of their plan being exposed made her ready to fight. She didn’t want to get caught and get ferried away. “I don’t know you.” 

The sudden revelations of her words struck Dairen deep. 

“Did you really forget me?” A deep hint of sadness could be heard in Dairen’s voice. For some reason, it bothered her. “You and I have been working together for a very long time. We even….” He blushed and stared at her lips for a brief moment, reminiscing about something. 

“Even what?” 

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“Nevermind.” Dairen waved his hand. Instead, he was a bit more on guard with her. 

“If you have nothing else for me, I’ll be going.” Snow started to walk towards the nearest exit. 

“Wait!”

Snow stopped for a moment. “Yes?”

“Snow, I think you should come with us back to the guild. I’m quite sure that we can help you break the curse.” 

“I’m quite sure I know how to break my own.” 

“You do?”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Snow left, leaving Dairen chasing behind her, yelling her name. 

With hurried footsteps, she raced through the hallway, trying to get rid of Dairen’s pursuit. Even if it means running through the hallway. A few times, she had to pretend that nothing was wrong when the other guards went past her. She saluted and kept on walking. 

Eventually, she got sick of hearing Dairen’s footsteps following closely behind. On the next corner, she whipped around, taking a moment to hide. The pitter-patter of Dairen’s footstep rushed behind, trying to catch up. 

The moment she saw his feet extend out to take the turn, Snow reached over and grabbed him. Dairen yelped, fighting back. 

Snow wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to get a good hold to cause him to pass out temporarily. But Dairen had his hand in between her choke, making it impossible to get a good grip. 

In the next few seconds, it became a quick tango between the two. They rolled around the wall, banging a few times to overpower the other. With an angry hiss, Snow bites her lower lips. She was able to pin him against the wall. 

With rapid breath, Dairen stared down at her. He held up his hand, trying to show her that he meant no harm. 

“Look.” Snow said with a bit of bated breath. The short burst fight wasn’t her specialty, and she had to throw around her body weight just to get the upper hands. She rather blitzed around and danced around her enemy, but Dairen didn’t allow that. “I don’t like being followed.” She stressed each word. 

Dairen opened his mouth, but her finger zipped to his mouth, silencing him. 

“I don’t want to know what our history between us is right now, but I can take care of myself. I assure you of that.” 

With a nod of his head, he agreed.

“Good, now be a good boy and leave me alone.” 

Dairen's eyes widen. Then he stared at her for a long moment. 

Heavy breathing was heard between the two, and if any longer, Snow would have thought that she would hear her own heartbeat as well. 

“No,” Dairen said with affirmation. 

Snow glared; she didn’t like how Dairen wasn’t going to leave her alone. If anything, she didn’t want him to be following her everywhere she went. 

“You have saved and helped me multiple times. This time, I am going to help you as well,” said Dairen. His gaze unwavering, making Snow antsy. The words that he was saying rung a familiarity in her heart that she couldn’t ignore. “The others are here for you, Snow. We have your back.” 

“I don’t know anyone of them.” 

“I know, you don’t remember, but we have proof that you are the Snow that we know--the Saintess.” 

“I’m quite sure that I am not the Saintess.” 

Dairen chuckled. “You still dislike that name given to you by the people. It’s something that you can not get rid of. I assure you. You tried multiple times, and it all failed.” 

“But, what about the Saintess that you have now? Who is she then? Is she not the Saintess you are looking for?” Snow was having a hard time believing that this was the case. Mostly because she had read on the headlines that the Saintess was back and was okay. “Or are you saying this was all a cover-up?”

“Yes.” Dairen pushed her finger aside.

“Why?”

“Because it's for the people. For now, we didn’t want to cause mass panic.” 

Snow snorted. The thought of others panicking over her sounded a bit too far-fetched. She didn’t think that she was that popular, but when it came to Saintess's name, the name was plastered on headlines everywhere she went. Could what he said be true? Her curiosity surfaced. 

“Look, enough with your prattles.” Snow replied with a harsh tone. This was going nowhere, and she needed to complete her mission and get out of there. Any longer, she might meet an unfortunate end, and time was ticking. “This is my last warning. Leave me alone.”

She should have just knocked him out, but for some reason, her consciousness was telling her not to. Was she finally believing everything that Dairen was suggesting? Of course not. 

“No.” Dairen leaned in, his lips matching hers. 

Snow froze. 

A warm tingle erupted across her lips. She was dazed by Dairen’s boldness. It took her completely by surprise that she didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t that she had never kissed anyone, but the timing and the circumstances threw her off. 

It was light, almost endearing as the warmth traveled down her spine. She couldn’t break away, glued to the floor. 

The kiss's familiarity was too stimulating, and the longer they both kept together, the she didn’t want to move from the spot. What was wrong with her? She was acting like a teenage kid going through puberty as her stomach made some loops. Dairen’s arm slunk downward, bringing her in even closer. 

Snow could smell the musty scent of Dairen’s collagen. A familiar scent that she enjoyed. They breathed in unison, and their heart began to stir. 

“Snow?” Levian voiced out to her. 

Shattering her peace, she awoke.