Familiarity

It took everything out of her to break herself apart from Dairen, and when she saw Levian with a scowl, she realized her mistake.

"You!" Dairen pulled Snow behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Levian snarled. "Someone like you dares to steal her kiss. Do you have a death wish?!"

Dairen snorted at Levian's remark. "What are you talking about? You, who are a mass murder, have no right to be next to her."

Snow was alarmed when she heard what Dairen had blurted out. To hear that Levian was a mass murder made her realize who she was living with. There were times when she could smell blood on his clothes whenever he walked by. It was subtle, almost unrecognizable without a good sense of smell. At first, she didn't think much of it.

"Snow, don't believe that man in front of you. He will commit a far more atrocious sin than me." Levian pointed, he started to storm towards them.

"Stay back." It didn't take long for Dairen to pull out his bow and arrow, quickly knocking one in place to shoot Levian down. "You lied to her."

Levian stopped. He calmed down his mood as he slowly spoke to Snow. "Snow, trust me."

Snow looked back and forth from both Levian and Dairen, trying to figure out who was telling the truth and a lie. She knew that unlocking her memory would solve everything, but right now, it riddled her with questions that she didn't know. How much did they both know, and why was Levian keeping secrets from her?

When Snow wasn't budging from behind Dairen, Levian frowned even harder. There was a silent sense of darkness that seemed to creep on his expression. He stood up, straighter, and his eyes became colder.

"If you leave now, you won't' ever get your memory back, and you will have to suffer those nightmares without my help."

Snow flinched. She disliked how Levian was threatening her with the problem that she had and could not solve as of this moment. It had now become an even tighter chain around her neck.

She stepped out from behind Dairen.

"Snow?!" Dairen was alarmed at Snow when she heard her come out from behind.

Snow didn't say anything. She started to head towards Levian.

Dairen quickly lowered his bow. He reached out to grab her shoulder from leaving.

Twisting out of his reach, Snow shook her head. "No."

Her words were like a bombshell that shook Dairen's soul.

Dairen grabbed air, stumbling almost to the ground. He had to catch himself. Eventually, he was able to reorient his body. He looked up to see that Snow was almost at Levian.

"You're making a mistake!" Dairen shouted, hoping that his words would persuade her.

"I know." Snow didn't care that Levian had heard it. She was angry that Levian had thrown such a bait at her that it infuriated her even more that she had to count on him. Even with all that searching, there was no answer to this curse.

Levian smirked coyly towards Dairen, which infuriated him even more.

Snow eventually made it next to Levian. In a matter of seconds, she punched Levian in the guts. Levian kneeled over, coughing hard. His eyes watered. Eventually, he was able to get back up with heavy breaths.

"What was that for?!" Levian shouted. He eyed her questioningly with anger.

"I don't like to be threatened." Snow retorted back. "Our agreement will be over when I get my memories back."

Levian was silent for a moment. He rubbed his belly, straightening up. He then shook his head in understanding. "Which is why we should leave."

Snow walked past him as Dairen's voice called out to her to stop.

"Little boy," Levian was able to get himself back to his usual self. "I suggest you turn around and head back to your people."

Dairen snarled, "No." He raised up his bow and arrow, letting it go. The arrow went flying straight towards Levian.

Levian side-stepped out of the way. His hand snatched the arrow out in the air. He spun around and sent it, flying back at him.

In alarm, Dairen jumped out of harm's way, hitting the very floor. He rolled out, firing another set of arrows right after.

Snow snapped around when she heard something thunk against the wall. She saw both Levian and Dairen, squaring off, fighting amongst each other. Dairen had forgone his bows and arrows and sent punches between the two.

They both tumbled together, trying to overcome the other by pure brute force alone. Levian slugged a right fist into Dairen's chin, stumbling back, and Dairen knee kicked Levian. Both crumpled onto the ground.

Snow was baffled at the two.

Suddenly, a pitter-patter of feet came running down the hallway.

In alarm, Snow raced over towards Levian. Pulling him up by the arm, she pulled him along into a run.

"We need to get out of here." Snow hissed.

Levian was able to get back his footing, allowing him to run independently without her support. He understood what predicament they were in, and time was of the essence.

"Did you get what you needed?" Snow asked.

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean, yes and no?"

"Well, I did get the ring, but I wasn't able to snatch the necklace off the Pope. We need to head toward him now."

"What!?" Snow couldn't believe what she had heard. Head toward the Pope now and steal his necklace? "We'll be caught!"

"Not exactly," Levian smirked, knowing full well what he was going to do.

Snow didn't know what else to say and only followed through with his plans. They had a lot at stake, plus she needed to talk with the Pope to break her curse. Already, they were in a bad state.

Both Dairen and Snow slowed down, controlling their breathing.

Quickly, taking off the armor and weapon, Snow threw it into a basket to hide her uniform. Levian did the same thing as they quickly changed into the normal attire that they had underneath. They blended in with the existing crowds and even passed by a few guards, who didn't say anything back. Luckily for them, they didn't ask questions.

Snow squeezed her way into the long line of people, looping around a few times, which she bypassed. Snaking through, she slowly inched her way towards the front, trying not to bring as much attention. She moved through the line, talking with the people here and there. It didn't take long for Snow to make it to the front. She was able to weasel through and step up towards the Pope.

Slightly looking to the right, Snow noticed Levian, making his way with a drink in his hand. He looked natural, as if he was part of the service to the Pope.

Stepping up, she made it to the front. Standing in front of the Pope, she came up to his eyes. A soft smile erupted on his lips.

"Child, step forward." The Pope gave a loving gaze, but there was a strange sense of unknown energy lingering in the Pope's eyes. She couldn't quite put a finger to it as to why she was feeling such away.

Snow took a step. Her hand got a bit sweaty at the next move that she was going to make.

"To see such a bright light around you is quite astounding."

"What do you mean?" Snow carefully asked. "This was the first time she had heard Someone say something like that about her.

"I am blessed by the God of Light and was given the gift of sight." The Pope proudly said, "and the aura around you is quite blinding."

Snow was quite shocked to hear such words.

The Pope chuckled. "It's a gift. You, my child, are very loved by God."

A sudden guilt blossomed in her heart. Did she want to go through with it? No. Every second, her mind kept asking herself, was this even a good idea?

"I don't think I am," said Snow. "I am sorry."

Levian was behind him. She could see him using his magic to temporarily cloak him for a moment.

In seconds, Levian's hand grabbed hold of the Pope's necklace, but before he could snatch it away, a powerful spell of light magic blasted outward from the Pope.

Snow raised up her hand, unconsciously repelling back at the magic that slammed into her body. She stood in place, unphased by the magical outburst. While everyone else was on the ground dazed. Tables, chairs, and broken items were laid out across the ground.

Blinking her eyes, she saw Levian's covered with red-colored magic that swirled around him like fire.

"Stop!" The guards, who were outside and did not get impacted by the magic, ran inside in alarm.

Levian reached over, grabbing the Pope at the same time.

"Come here!" Levian yelled at Snow. His hand was wrapped around the Pope's neck with a dagger in his hand.

Snow jumped forward, reaching over.

Black swirls of fire blew around from Levian, creating a firestorm. Nobody was able to come through.

"Snow!" Dairen's voice called out from behind the firewall.

Snow looked back once before both of her and Levian had disappeared into the darkness.