19 Chapter 19 : Snow's Tragic Past

"Ladies, please calm down. Let's not start this all over again, please. We don't need to start this again," Lyte was horribly worried things might get out of hand this time and instead of throwing words at each other, they might throw real objects and someone might get hurt.

"Do not get involved!" Snow shouted. Lyte was beyond stunned as she had never raised her voice at all in the short time Lyte got to know her.

"Lyte, stay out of this! This is between me and this lowlife reapress!" Lisa looked like a hound barring her teeth towards Snow.

Lyte knew he could not do anything again. He decided to start preparing a spell to hold them both if something do break out between them. He was not sure how he could hold back a witch and a strong mage slash reapress, but all he could do now was pray for the love of all that they would calm down.

"The nerve of you for accusing me of such a horrid sin!"

"Well! You are already a sinner! You are a reapress after all! You killing those poor people is the greatest sin of all!"

"Do you even know what soul collectors do?! We do not kill for no reasons unless we needed to! We are just doing what the Gods planned for them! Every one is destined to die!"

"What about Madam Big Bosom?! She wasn't supposed to die today but you made her die by writing her name in that stupid Book of Death!"

"That was because she wanted to kill you two! If she was not involved in Lyte's safety, I would not have killed her!"

"You could have beaten her up! You didn't have to kill her!"

"If I beat her up just now, I will be in great trouble! Soul collectors are not allowed to be violent! It is against our vow!"

"It doesn't matter! Why did you become a part time reapress in the first place?! You could have chosen another career!"

"I..."

"Nothing to say now huh?! Admit it! You love seeing people suffer and mourn after you take away their loved one! You love it when they stare at the bodies of the people close to them, knowing they could not have changed the fate! Hoping that they had known and regretting not spending enough time with the now dead! You keep saying that it's just your job! But why choose this job if you don't enjoy it?! You are evil and nothing more!"

"... You really should not be so rude to a reapress,"

"Or what?! Are you going to kill me like you did with Madam Big Bosom?! Go ahead! Do it then! It will just prove to all of us that you are a sadistic garbage to society!"

"..."

Snow stayed silent, not wanting to talk about anything relating to her job as a part time reapress. She had her head held low, her hands clenched tightly into fists as if they were holding something very important to her. Lisa kept yelling insults at her but she just kept quiet and kept her head low.

Lyte upon seeing this thought Snow was about to lose control and hurt Lisa. He honestly did not know whether he was concerned about Snow or Lisa, but he decided Lisa should stop as she was the only one still yelling.

"L-Lisa. I think that's enough. What you are saying is very hurtful, you know,"

"So what?! You told me on our walk out of the Dead Forest that both your parents had passed in the hands of these soul collectors when you are young! You should hate her! Despise her! Why are you taking her side?!"

"I'm not taking sides, but I think that's enough, Lisa,"

"Enough?! I'm just getting started!"

Suddenly, they heard Snow murmured something. It was so soft they almost did not caught it. But they knew something was wrong from the tone of her voice. They turned to her and was shocked to see her eyes glowing and wet, two streams of tears flowing down her pale face.

"I said, enough! Let us just forget that conversation ever happened and be on our way,"

"Why?! Cause I ain't stopping till you admit I was right about you!"

"I will never... admit to... something untrue…"

"Untrue?! That is the truth! You are a sinner! Admit it and maybe I'll find it in my heart to forg-"

"I said I will not admit to your lies! The hell is wrong with you?! I would appreciate it if you stop your accusation until you get to know me!"

"Accusation?! What I said were th-"

"You said I like my job! I do not! I hated every second of it! But I needed it at one point of my life! Now I am stuck with it as my only source of income!"

"You could f-"

"You do not know what I have been through! All my life I had been bullied because of my appearance! No human should look like, this! It did not help that my parents threw me on the streets after they had their second child who was a normal looking baby girl. I was only 4 years old! I did nothing wrong! I even helped out around the house and did my best to master primary school level studies to ensure I would not disappoint them! But they did not care! All society cared about are looks! You could be the best person in the world but if you do not look 'pretty', you are an outcast! In contrary, you could be the worst person in the world but as long as you are pretty, you are welcomed in society!"

"That's not true! Soc-"

"Not true?! That is nonsense! The closest thing I had as a friend was my teacher who taught me magic at the age of 7! He was my only friend in my entire life! But thinking back now, he did not befriended me because he wanted to! He just saw potential in me and wanted to teach me magic! But at least he was there for me!"

"Okay, but you still haven't answered-"

"Then one day, when I turned 14, he got terribly sick! They is a cure but one must find it themselves and it was hard to find! It was expensive to have it processed as well! I had a job as a chef in a restaurant! But it was not enough! I had to pick up another job that would not clash with my time as a chef! That was why I became a reapress! I needed the extra money! I also needed to travel around to find the herb that was the cure!"

"..."

"Then one day, after three months of looking and not getting enough sleep from my two jobs and my remaining time spent on looking for the herb, I found it! It was located in a well guarded area in a sinkhole in the deepest part of the ocean! I had to buy a siren potion to turn myself into one and travel down to get the herb! I got it but at what costs?! I had cuts all over my body from the claws of the guardians of the place! I was severely poisoned from the tentacles of huge jellyfishes that blocked part of the deep sinkhole, making me unable to dodge them completely! Half my tail was bitten until only muscles could be seen as the skin was completely bitten away by a huge fish that I have never seen before! I had spears through my remaining tail, my abdomen, my chest and both my arms! I lost a lot of blood I almost lost consciousness! I almost died! But I did not care about my own safety and immediately ran to the healer and paid her every penny I made and gave her the herb so she would make the medicine! But guess what happened?!"

"... W-what happened?"

"That bitch said she was busy because she was painting her nails! I waited three hours for her to be done with her nails and another hour for her to be done brewing the medicine! It should have taken ten minutes but she insisted her newly painted nails ware more important than my problem! When she was done, I ran back to my teacher! But I was too late! All I saw was his body on the bed! Lifeless! Stale! Cold to the touch! He died two hours before I arrived! The worst part was I had to be the one to collect his soul! Do you have any idea how painful that was?! Nobody should have to take the person they care about to the afterlife! Then I was fired from my restaurant job after me being a reapress was known to public! Nobody would hire a reapress or once reapress... You have no idea what I have gone through… You have no rights to judge me..."

Snow's voice grew softer and hoarse from all the yelling and she gradually quieted. She slowly sat down on the patch of grass where she stood and curled up into a ball as she wept her heart away, something she had not allowed herself to do in many years. Even when her parents abandoned her, she did not cry. Even when people around her judged her and criticised her for no apparent reasons, she stayed strong. Even when her teacher died, she held back her tears. She realised she had held back so much frustrations since she was young because she would be slapped if she cried by her parents and would be called a weakling. She did not want to be a weakling but at that moment, she could not hold back the tears accumulated over the years anymore.

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