Chapter 20 : Déjà vu???

Seeing Snow cry was three words that nobody would imagine was possible to ever exist because it did not made any sense. Something thought to be impossible. But here she is, on the ground curled up into a ball and sobbing with Lyte and Lisa staring at her, shell shocked.

"S-Snow, are you a-alright?" Lyte cautiously asked in fear that her tears would amplify at the wrong question. He knew that was possible from personal experiences.

"I-I am f-fine... Just l-leave me be... I will be o-okay in a while..."

"Are y-you sure? If you want you can rant all you want to us and we'll listen to you. You can even scold us for whatever we might have wronged you. We promise we will not interrupt you at all. Maybe it will help you feel better?"

"I-It is quite *sniffs* alright... J-just leave me a-alone... I-I need to c-calm myself down..."

No matter how much Lyte and - surprisingly - Lisa persuaded, Snow refused to let them try to comfort her. She repeatedly insisted that she was fine and would not need them to help her, that she could help herself pull out from the sorrow alone. As Lyte persisted further, Snow's frustration grew and grew. Eventually, she became enraged and she raised her voice to him a second time that day.

"LYTE! LISA! I SAID I AM FINE! I CAN HANDLE MY OWN EMOTIONS! JUST LEAVE! ME! ALONE!" as Snow said that, she summoned a small gust of wind to push them a little away from her. Far enough so that they could not hear her cries but close enough for her to keep an eye on them, just in case.

Lyte and Lisa tried their best not to fall from the wind. They then sighed in defeat not knowing what to do to help Snow. Even though they did not know Snow very well, they knew in their minds that all they could and should just do as she said and let her cry for a while. Anything else would lead to something none of the three would want to find out.

They walked 10 metres away from the spot Snow was at and sat down under a shady tree.

"So, now what? Do we really have to sit here and wait until she gets over it and stop crying like a child?" Lisa complained as she was unsatisfied that they had to wait.

"Yes, Lisa. There's nothing we could do now. Let's just wait for her to calm down,"

"See. I told you she was a problem. Our journey is delayed and it's all her fault. We should just ditch her and leave now, Lyte,"

"Lisa, that's not nice to say that. She's a friend, and friends don't leave each other behind. Come on, let's play a game to pass time, okay?"

"Fine… "

Lisa reluctantly agreed and summoned out some cards and the two started playing Uno. Behind them, Snow was continuously mumbling something softly. They remained like that for about 20 minutes. It was after Lyte's 3rd defeat that he almost finally won, but suddenly...

"... Lyte, where to?"

"What? What happened? Did you just call my name, Snow?" a sense of déjà vu crept in Lyte.

"Indeed I did. Were you daydreaming just now? Must be a nice dream since you were so dazed."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he was so sure he had this exact conversation before, but why could he not remember a thing.

"It is alright. Considering the situation, I would have done the same too. Anyway, can you tell us the destination of our journey?"

"Oh, we are heading to the Smiley Mansion located in the Forsaken Land, where the cursed Wind Goddess Statue is hidden according to many rumours," he was very confused now.

"Rumours? Then are you sure that it really is there?" Lisa piped up, wanting to be part of the conversation.

"I'm pretty sure it is, since there's so many mages that said so. It must be, right?" Lyte was certain that happened before, but he just could not place a finger on when. He could not remember the aftermath either. He decided to just think of it as him imagining things.

"Well, only one way to find out. No use arguing here whether the cursed statue is or is not there. We just have to go and see for ourselves," Snow suggested. That one seemed so out of place in Lyte's familiarity recollection.

"But that would just be a complete waste of time if it was proven to be untrue. That's why we should have certainty first!"

"It will be a more waste of time arguing about the whereabouts of the statue too. If it is there, hooray for us. If it is not, then we can try another location if any more rumours arise or if we can find one of the thief's friends. We should continue our journey and ask other people around about it,"

"Snow's right, Lisa. No use trying to figure that out since nobody really knows. Nobody knows what the future holds so we might as well try it out and if it works out, then we can say that Lady Luck is on our side. Plus, any rumours about the cursed Wind Goddess Statue is always tied with that location, so the possibility is high. Come on, let's go," Lyte said with a warm smile on his face.

Lyte ushered the two ladies to grab their stuff while he grabbed his own. When they were sure nothing was left, they continued their journey.

On their walk, Lisa asked Lyte a question he could not answer.

"Lyte, why the cursed Wind Goddess Statue? Is there no other magical items that could be used to destroy the Sylph Clan? Not that I want to know what else could be used but I'm confused why go through the trouble. I heard the statue was supposed to be well guarded, meaning the person who did it went through a great risk to get his or her hands on it,"

"Well guarded as it might be, it still got stolen in the end, Lisa. And about your first question, I don't know to be honest. I just heard it was stolen for that purpose," Lyte told Lisa the truth that he did not know either about the reason why that particular statue is stolen.

"Do you know anything by chance?" Lyte turned to Snow.

"If I said I do, I hope Lisa would not accuse me of being involved in the theft, again," Snow mumbled the last word, intentionally barely audible for her companions.

"Lisa won't, I promise. And what was that at the end?"

"Nothing. No need to worry about it. Alright, the reason why the cursed Wind Goddess Statue is stolen to be used against the Sylph Clan. First I have to tell you the history of the statue," Snow began her story about the origin of the cursed Wind Goddess Statue that was not meant to be made with a curse on it.