'Female or male? '

After David died, Lana seemed to come to her senses. "I just killed someone." She kept on repeating in disbelief. Athena bit her bottom lip in annoyance.

"Did I do the right thing?" she asked as her eyes shone with unshed tears. Was that regret that she was seeing?

"Yes, you did the right thing," Athena answered with a bored tone.

Her face brightened but then her expression changed slightly. She had something to say but she was hesitant.

"Just say it."

"Don't you think that David has died an easy death? I just feel like it was too easy!"

Ruth and Athena, "…" They could not understand her anymore! Wasn't she regretting killing him earlier?

It was already dusk when they buried David's body in the forest.

Ruth looked gloomy but Lana wore a satisfied expression. "Is my sister happy now?"

Athena casted a glance at the gloomy Ruth and her lips twitched, but said, "Yes, she is very happy. Very happy." One could hear a hint of sarcasm in her voice but Lana did not notice anything amiss.

"So my job here is now done, right?" Athena looked at Ruth. Ruth nodded and said, "Follow me."

They both followed Ruth deeper into the forest. Soon they stopped at a big stone. "We are here."

Athena raised an eyebrow.

"Tell Lana to remove this stone and use sticks to dig the soil."

Athena turned to look at Lana and told her what Ruth had told her. Lana obediently did what she was told. Time passed as she continued to dig. Athena began to feel bored and decided to play with Little Snow. It looked so lonely and unwanted.

Athena smiled as she pulled it in her arms and caressed it. "Do you know that I don't know your gender? What are you? A female or a male?" she said as her hands shamelessly touched and squeezed its soft and warm body.

She squeezed its butt and the rabbit squeaked. Athena chuckled. "Can I check?"

The rabbit turned stiff in her arms. As quick as a flash, it bolted out of her arms and fled. "Little Snow, come back!" she shouted but it had already disappeared from her sight. She was dumbfounded. Did Little Snow run away because it felt shy?

Ruth looked at her stupefied expression and laughed. She shot a glare at her before running in the direction that Little Snow went. "Little Snow, where are you?" She looked around. Something moved in a bush and she sighed in relief as she went over. "There you are..." she trailed off when she realized that it was not Little Snow but a small baby fox. Her expression softened.

Why do all these small animals look so cute? She tried to hold it but it dodged her hands. It even gave her a disdainful look before walking away unhurriedly, so full of arrogance. She rubbed her eyes. That look... Was she hallucinating?

As if sensing her gaze, it turned. The little fox even had a look of belittlement in its eyes as its ears twitched. It then continued to walk away proudly.

Athena snapped out of her daze and fumed. Did that little thing look down on her? She was going to teach it a lesson! "Stop right there!" she ordered but it kept on walking.

She stood up to chase after it when Little Snow appeared in front of her with an accusing look. She felt helpless. What's up with that look? Why did she feel like these animals were acting a little too human?

"Little Snow," she said helplessly as she tried to pick it up but it dodged her. Athena felt frustrated. What's wrong with these animals? She tried again but Little Snow moved further away from her. It looked at her like she had betrayed it.

She heard a low bark and looked up to see the little baby fox sitting not far away from her with its eyes twinkling. Was it laughing at her?

Exasperated, she tried to shoo the fox away. "Go away!" The fox did not move. Its bushy tail moved from left to right as it looked at her unblinkingly.

Little Snow also turned to look at it. When their eyes met, the little fox did not know why it suddenly felt cold and it unconsciously took two steps backwards.

When Little Snow seemed to be distracted, she immediately picked it up and turned to leave, completely ignoring the haughty baby fox. If it had not been so haughty, she would have taken it with her. The baby fox watched her leave before it also left.

"Where did you find your rabbit?" asked Ruth as she floated in the air. Lana was now done and an old wooden chest laid beside her.

The chest was so huge. Lana was panting heavily and her dress was now very dirty. She was covered with sweat.

Athena pointed in a certain direction.

"Somewhere there."

Lana still found it funny when she saw her speaking to the air but did not comment. Instead she eagerly opened the chest and gasped. So much gold coins... There were even some rare and precious stones. She touched everything in amazement.

A thin and small hand appeared in front of her. She looked up to see Athena wearing a serious expression. She chuckled and counted ten thousand gold coins carefully and gave her. Athena's eyes sparkled as she accepted the money. A wide grin appeared on her pale small face. One might take her for a gold digger because of that greedy expression that she had on her small face.

She got ten thousand gold coins without doing anything much! Can you imagine that?

"Now that you are rich, why don't you find yourself a nice place to live in?" Athena suggested as an image of that horrible place flashed in her eyes. Lana's eyes brightened up. "Good idea but the caravan..."

"You can just take it with you," Athena replied. "Now that my job here is done, I am leaving."

Athena returned to the inn, smiling like a fool. Why was she so happy? Because she had just earned a lot of money that can keep her alive for the next few months.

Athena took a quick bath and sat on the bed. The door was suddenly knocked. She climbed out of the bed and went to open the door. She opened it to see Mr Snape standing there smiling whilst holding a tray.

"Good evening, Mr Snape." she greeted him with a smile.

"How are you Miss Athena? I have brought some dinner for you."

Her stomach rumbled loudly at that moment and she looked away in embarrassment. Mr Snape bit his lip, trying to control his laughter.

"Didn't you say that you do not provide any food yesterday?" she asked suspiciously.

He quickly nodded. "I did say that but usually on Mondays in the evening all guests are given dinner."

She eyed the tray cautiously for a few seconds before accepting it. "Thank you."

"You are welcome Miss Athena," he said and left. Athena closed the door and went over to the bed with the tray. Her mouth watered as she looked at the food. She was feeling very hungry. She sniffed at the food before digging in. The food was really delicious.

Little Snow's ears twitched as it watched her eat so fast that it wondered if she won't get choked.

Athena picked up her bag and took out an apple. She fed it to Little Snow. After the satisfying meal, she pulled Little Snow into her arms and prepared to sleep. She thought of the vision she had seen earlier.

That scary looking girl... Could she be the future her? She shuddered at the thought. But what was Lana hiding from her?

Why didn't she tell her? Athena felt puzzled but decided not to think about it anymore.

Ruth suddenly popped out of nowhere.

"I guess you have missed your place," Athena said with a sigh. "You must have good memories in this place."

Ruth shook her head quickly. "No, I came back to see you. I..."

"You are beginning to miss me already but it has been just a few hours," she interrupted.

"That's not what I wanted to say," Ruth said looking exasperated.

"Then what is it?" she asked sleepily.

"In the future when you are powerful, if you ever meet Lana again can you protect her? Promise me."

"What makes you think that I am going to become powerful in the future?"

"Because I know that," she said rather mysteriously. Athena raised an eyebrow but did not probe further. She knew that she had no future.

"Do you promise?"

"You have my word."

Ruth could tell that she did not take her request seriously but did not comment. Instead she said, "One more thing is that I want you to look for the Book of Evil. If you manage to find it, you can keep it."

"Are you now ordering me around? Besides isn't that book your family's heirloom? How can I keep it? Shouldn't it belong to Lana?"

Ruth shook her head. "This is for your own good. You might be able to find out who you are by using that book." She ignored her other questions.

Athena fell in deep thought before saying, " I will try my best to find it."

"Good," she said looking satisfied. " Now, I can finally leave."

With that she slowly faded away...

"Wait. Didn't you say that this book is written in a foreign language? How am I supposed to use it?" Athena asked but Ruth had already disappeared.