3 Chapter 3 : A Decent Stay

… and what stood before Lyte amazed him so much.

The inside of the mansion was not at all like the outside. The wall inside was painted silver with hints of red decorations here and there. The theme was calm and soothing.

I guess this is what it meant by internal beauty. Lyte thought to himself.

It was like a safe heaven, a place where angels reside. The only thing scary about the place was the dead silence. No sound could be heard at all.

Lyte continued observing this new surrounding while he followed the mysterious lady to a place he assumed was the guest room, all his previous thoughts about getting killed all gone.

The lady told him to take a bath in the connected bathroom and gave him a towel and a set of clothes to change into. Then, she walked out of the room without another word, leaving Lyte completely alone.

Lyte went into the shower as soon as the lady left. He received a second wave of shock after walking in.

The bathroom was so luxurious as if it was stolen from the royal palace. The walls glimmered with white gold. The tiles looked like they were custom made to look like the starry night. The counter was the same themed as the tiles with red rhinestones creating a fancy pattern. The bathtub was very big and could fit four people in it at once.

He filled the bathtub with warm water, sat inside and started thinking back on his dream. The dream, or more like a memory recollection of his childhood. However, he decided after a quick flashback that he should not pester about the past. The past is in the past and he should just let it go.

He had more important things to attend to. First would be the fact that he needed to get out of the tub quickly before he became a prune. He quickly finished his bath, gave his hair a well deserved wash and changed into the clothes that was given to him – a set of brown coloured men sleepwear with white stripes on them.

What in the world?! It's a perfect fit! Cool! Lyte thought to himself as he put everything on and, holding his old clothes on his left hand, walked back into the guest room.

There was a soft knock on the wooden carved door as soon as Lyte laid his head down on the soft pillow to rest. He answered it, having a feeling it was going to be the lady since it seemed only he and the lady was in the mansion. He was right.

The lady walked into the room and towards him with a plate of a quarter of a blue pie in her hands. Blue pies acts like mana potions which allowed Lyte to regain his magic power. Or it could be just regular blueberry pies. Either way, Lyte loved them.

The lady handed the pie to Lyte and sat down in a nearby chair beside the guest bed.

She looked around and her eyes landed on his dirty clothes placed on the small antique nightstand on the other side of the bed. With a snap of her fingers, she cleaned the stinky clothes and made them look like they were newly bought.

"Oh, thank you so much for that. And thanks for the pie too, it is delicious," Lyte thanked with his mouth full of blue pie. He looked like a little kid even though he was a grown adult.

"You are welcome. Now may I ask why in the world were you doing sleeping in the Dead Forest? Men who are wise will not step foot 10 meters near this forest, let alone wander in alone. What purpose do you have here? Either you do or don't, coming here alone was a foolish move," the lady asked in a monotone voice. But Lyte could tell she was really concerned.

"H-hey! I'm not a fool! I have a very good reason for being here, okay! W-what about you, what is a young lady like you doing living in a scary forest alone?" Lyte defended himself and out of panic, he threw out the uno reverse card and asked the lady his own question.

The lady made a more significant poker face than the one she had before, if it was even possible. They then chatted and asked each other questions.

From the conversation, Lyte got to know the lady better, as much as she was willing to share at least. She was 24 years old while he was 25 years old. It shocked Lyte that this lady in front of him was younger than him. She was working as a part time reapress as he had suspected. She was living alone in this mansion which she requested to be built here which he also had guessed correctly. He still could not understand why but she insisted it was because she liked the solitude. Lastly, she did not like to smile. Lyte had not seen her smile or even grin the whole time.

Lyte on the other hand told the lady what he was doing in the Dead Forest in the middle of the night, all alone. He was on a quest to find and protect the cursed Wind Goddess Statue. Lyte also mentioned he was the Griffin. He found that out when a mage saw the marking of the Griffin on his back. From that day onwards, Lyte was looking for the other Keepers.

The Keepers are four important people that have the ability to destroy or to protect the universe. Only one of each can exist at the same time. The strongest one is the Dragon – Keeper of Goodness and Evil. Only one can exist, ever. The second one is the Griffin – Keeper of War and Peace. The third is the Phoenix – Keeper of Life. The last one is the Raven – Keeper of Death. The Dragon is the most dangerous as he/she can single-handedly destroy the universe. Even so, every Keepers can become stronger when they are united.

When Lyte finished the blue pie, their conversation also ended. Lyte was happy to know this lady better and felt his hunger faded away.

The lady stood up and was about to leave the room to let Lyte rest for the night. Before she could leave, Lyte stopped her and asked her for her name.

"I would like to know what your name is. I can't keep calling you miss can I?"

"My name is of no importance. Just call me Fuyu,"

"Why Fuyu?" Lyte would not let her be that easily. He was always a curious boy. The fact that he survived this long with all this curiosity was a mystery.

"Just that my 'friend' thought it was a good nickname. He said I was as cold as ice and snow and even my hair colour blended in perfectly with snow. That is the meaning of Fuyu – snow in Japanese. People started calling me that and I got used to it. You can call me Snow too if you want to," said Snow as she walked out of the door finally and closed the door behind her.

"Goodnight, Snow," muttered Lyte to himself, not knowing Snow actually heard him from the other side of the door.

Lyte laid his head back on the soft pillow and stared at the ceiling, thinking back on the conversation they had.

Snow did not really tell him much about herself, but Lyte could tell she was lonely, even though she said she has friends. But why was Snow so secretive about herself? Did she has a dark past she wanted to leave behind, or was there another reason?

After thinking for a while, he finally felt the exhaustion creeping in. He allowed his heavy eyelids to cover the window to his soul and fell asleep.

Lyte slept soundly that night with the exception of a peculiar dream.

He dreamt that he was talking to the Greek Gods. They informed him that he would need to convince Snow to join him in his journey. If he did not bring her along, he would regret it dearly.

After conversing with the Greek Gods, Lyte was thrown to a dream about his mother. He was a little boy again and his mother was telling him the last story she would ever tell him before passing away.

As his mother reached the part where the warrior swung his sword at the cyclops, Lyte heard something in a distance. Something familiar and yet unfamiliar…