The Pope didn’t seem phased by Snow’s outburst. “Your friend is an abomination to our church.”
“So?” Snow scoffed at the Pope. At this point, she didn’t care how she came up to him anymore. The pleasantries that she was going to show as thrown out the window.
“He is an abomination to even be standing next to you. You who are considered a holy being to stand beside the residences of darkness is unheard of.”
“I think you got something wrong. The God of Light and Darkness is two halves of a whole. To deny the other is a fallacy, and you are stating that God wouldn’t look in favor? Your thoughts are skewed.”
The Pope snorted at what Snow had said. His eyes glimmered dangerously. “No, this is how the world works. Divided between the light and darkness. Both to eternally fight among each other until one overlays the other.”
Snow shook her head. “Once again, a skewed thought. Both are needed to make this world harmonize. Without the other, it wouldn’t even exist in the first place.”
“You have a very dangerous thought, Ms. Snow.”
“I do not care. This is what I believe and see.”
“You will give him up one day.”
“I would never do such a thing.”
“We shall see.”
Snow got up. She didn’t want to stay any longer. Honestly, she had the urge to punch him in the face and get it all over with, but she held herself back. Her mind spinning on how she needed to control the Church of Light so a war would not happen.
“This is my last offer, Ms. Snow. He will be caught by my people.”
Snow turned around. “I assure you that I will be there to stop you from taking him.”
“I assume you will.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Snow turned around and headed straight toward the door. “I got a few more important things to do.”
“Please, you as a Saintess are welcomed in our door anytime.” The Pope’s cold words were a bit harsh. The way it had a deeper underlying meaning made her wonder what the Pope had in mind.
“I will think about it.” Snow left, leaving behind the Pope, who was staring at her back with such intensity that she wondered if he was trying to slay her on the spot.
Snow walked back down to the lobby, heading back outside. The Valley saw her and ran out to get her car. She waited.
“Snow?” A familiar voice called out to her.
She turned around, noticing that it was James and Rose.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“You are?” Snow tilted her head, trying her best not to look at them with surprise.
“Wait, I think you got the wrong person,” Rose whispered at James with curiosity. She was nudging him on the side.
“No, I’m sure it's her.”
“But she has white hair and gold eyes. They don’t look too similar either.”
“I’m sure it's her.”
Rose sighed, giving Snow a half-hearted smile. She took a good look at her and even walked around Snow to see if she could find anything. “I don’t know. She doesn’t seem familiar to me.”
“It’s because you don't look hard enough,” James spoke up. He squinted.
Something about the way he gazed at Snow made her uncomfortable. She stood up straight, looking back at him confidently to throw him off as best as she could.
“I know who you are,” James said again, this time he crossed his hand in front of him.
“You were with Levian.”
Snow didn’t reply back.
“Stop pretending to be who you aren’t, Snow, or is this your facade that you put on as well?” James squinted his eyes at her.
Snow was impressed that he could tell who she was. Even though she was the Saintess, she couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Why do you think I’m the same person that you met?” Snow asked, watching his every movement. “How are you so sure?”
“Because I have an innate skill to tell the difference in energy-wise between different people, and your energy signature is vastly unique to anyone that I have ever seen.”
“So, you can tell my energy.”
“Yes. And it’s quite fiery just as I remembered it.”
Snow went silent. She observed him a bit longer, but a broad smile crossed her lips. Without saying a word, she turned around.
“Wait! Snow!” James rushed to grab her shoulder, but before he could catch a hold, she threw him over her shoulder. In seconds, her White Gryphon sword was in her hand, knocking his throat.
“I am not the same Snow that you were looking for.”
James gulped. The energy around Snow was dangerously high that he couldn’t help but feel pressed down by her. Even Rose couldn’t move, and she started to shake.
Putting away her killing intent, she put away her sword. She turned around, leaving behind without once looking back.
The Valley was waiting for her with keys in hand. Snow snatched it out of his hand and entered into her car. She started it up, her hand grabbing the handle wheel. A large sigh escaped her lips, and her shoulder slumped. Her headbang on the steering wheel as all the confidence in her disappeared.
She screwed up her chance with the Pope, but she didn’t care. She wouldn't ever turn over her friend. Though she didn’t expect James to figure out who she was. This was going to be a lot more difficult than she had thought.
With a few more deep breaths and a quick stretch, she shook off her negative thoughts to deal with whatever life was going to throw at her. Her eyes twinkled, bringing with it a swell of energy of motivation.
Snow sped off into the distance, leaving them behind. She didn’t want to linger anymore, and she sped off back to the Guild.
*****
The wind blew its morning cold air, where Snow was standing outside, taking a small breather. Snow frowned as she realized that the summer day was finally passing by and becoming fall. She loved the fall, but something in the air made her antsy. She didn’t know what got into her. Getting in contact with Dairen was difficult as Mike was the only person who could find him.
Other than that, three months had quickly passed. The Hunters and Players' dungeon divings have been an ongoing commitment, keeping Snow busy with the Dragon Express work.
There were times when she barely had any sleep, pushing through the day to complete the large number of tasks thrown at her. If it wasn’t for the new hires, she would have passed out from exhaustion.
Mike had left her with a note about Dairen’s predicament, which Snow had quickly crumbled and burned in fire. She knew that the Pope and his lackey were watching over the guild headquarters, especially her and Mike. Last night, she had three more spies, following her around leeches, which she had personally got rid of.
Snow frowned. She wasn’t too thrilled with the number of spies that followed her everywhere they went.
Today was the day when she was going to meet with Dairen around midnight. Right now, she had twelve hours to kill, and waiting for the time to pass by didn’t help her as much. Her stomach twisted and turned, her body antsy. She didn’t know why, but she wished that time would go faster.
Snow walked out of the Guild with Mike. They were going to hang out for the rest of the day, away from the Guild's usual chatter and business. Today, they made their way to the amusement park, which she couldn’t help but remember her dungeon dive. Such times brought unwanted memories of the turbulent times, which they were able to get out.
Her memories were finally back. Everything that she wanted to remember came back at her slowly but surely. She was glad that the curse was finally gone, allowing her to become her true self that she dearly missed.
The only problem she regretted was working with Levian, but she was able to get something out of the whole ordeal, and the search for his predictions was something that she kept a close watch over.