“Sweetheart.” A warm voice spoke out to Snow, tickling her face and ears.

Blinking her eyes, slowly opening, she looked around.

Everywhere she looked, she was in the field of open grass. Warm beams of light caressed her cheeks, and the world around her was at peace.

“Sweetheart.” A woman appeared before her. She was glistening with warm light as multiple streams of light spilled out from her body, blinding anyone who got too close. What was more was that leaves were entwined with her body and skin as flowers decorated her dress.

Snow bolted up, surprised to see a beautiful lady in front of her.

“Who?”

The women smiled such a loving smile that the warmth brought Snow comfort and love.

“Goddess?” Snow asked.

“Yes.” The Goddess's body slowly shifted into a handsome man. The strength in his posture and his pose was powerful as he gazed down at her. “A goddess or a god, either or defines me, you can call me by many names from the God of Light to the God of darkness, the universe or God in general.”

“Goddess…” Snow was hesitant for a moment. Then, “Why did you allow all this to happen?”

The Goddess did not answer. Instead, she changed forms back into the female form.

The heavy silence was in the air.

Snow was getting impatient, waiting for the Goddess' reply.

“Goddess, why?” Snow was a bit more demanding. “The amount of death that was racked up in this event. Was this all a game to you?”

“No.” The Goddess replied.

“Then why?”

“Because all things are meant to be. A change is needed either in the form of the devil or a physical form of a demon king.”

“But wouldn't there be a better way to do this than such an extreme way?” Snow was getting angry.

The Goddess softly smiles with a sad expression; she shook her head no, “because, without a change or a push, people would not grow.”

“What does growing have to do with all this?” Snow waved her hand in front of her. The Goddess wasn’t making sense.

“Everything.” The Goddess replied. The world around me started to change. It became darker as Goddes's power became a wave of energy.

Snow was smashed with the Goddess' presence. Her body shivered in delight and fear. A mixture of emotions that completely baffled her senses.

The darkness settled around them as the environment changed to multiple pictures of the world before her. Crisis of death, destruction, and evil was present everywhere.

“Humanity is a fickle being.” The Goddess spoke. “They do not move unless something nudges them forward. From traumatic events, minuscule decisions to change oneself, or a will to help one another. But in this world, when the balance is out, something strong must sweep to shake out the ugly roots of comfortability that creeps up in everyone’s soul.”

The Goddess brought a stream of pictures before her.

Snow watched with amazement.

They were pictures of starving children, dying animals tortured by humans to environmental disasters, and horrible acts of cruelty before her. Her heart shriveled up in anger, sadness, and even an ugly twist of hatred.

Snow breathed in slowly, trying to keep calm.

“Humanity can do cruel things, and many sit on the side and do nothing.” The Goddess replied, “But, there have been cases where one human comes forward and touches the mind of many.”

The Goddess gazed at her.

Snow felt uncomfortable under the intense gaze.

“You.” The Goddess replied, “your actions have changed the future.”

“What about Levian? Did you not send him back to the past to change everything?”

“Yes, only in an agreement to send all his memories back to the day the game had started.”

“Why?”

“That is what he wanted.”

“Wait, but why not stop him?”

The Goddess sighed. “I do not control the decisions of the people, Snow. This is not how I work.”

“But, he turned out to be an evil being.”

“Yes, it was his choice instead of taking the path of the light.”

Snow didn’t understand.

“You wonder why I didn’t stop him when I had the power too?”

Snow shook her head. “Because he had two destiny. One would save the world. The other would doom it.”

“Then you have sent him to his death.”

“Yes, but a choice that he had made himself.”

“Still....”

“He knew what he was going into, a chance that he might not survive.”

“Why?”

“Because he wanted to save you.”

Snow was shocked by Levian's reason. “I don’t understand. He tried to kill me. ”

“In his first life, he was the love of your life. Not Dairen. When he gave up that spot to leave everything behind, he feared that the world would be the same way he had lived before. So, not to create the same chain of events, he threw everything away. But, the same love for you had changed over time from love to jealousy and then madness as the Demon King's power was too much for his human mind.”

Snow was confused and lost, but she knew she couldn’t do anything.

“Would you have sent him back to the past if he asked?” Snow slowly asked.

“Yes.” The Goddess nodded her head. “But, he had not. He was not able to get the chance to get to that point.”

“What do you mean?”

“He had already traded his future in exchange for a change that could save the world.” The Goddess replied. “He would not have anything else to trade in this life.”

Snow frowned. “Then what has happened to his soul?”

The Goddess didn’t reply.

Snow waited, but when the Goddess didn’t reply, she asked again, “his soul, goddess?”

“That is an answer you do not need to know.”

Snow was getting tired of the Goddess' words. She sighed; arguing with a Goddess was a headache in its own right. However, staying here any longer made her more tired than she usually thought.

“Then what about Mike and Dairen?” Snow asked. “Why them?”

The Goddess chuckled, “That is a question that you should ask yourself and them. Why have you chosen both of them? Why did you decide to work with Mike, who in your mind found him annoying and disrespectful? While Dairen was a strange man that burst into the Dragon Express, which gave you more trouble. Why did you choose them?”

“I…” Snow thought over for a moment. A question that she didn’t quite seriously think she would ever have to answer.

“You should understand why you choose to be around them, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Snow replied. “They have been there in my toughest time. They were there to pull me out and have my back. My brother in arms, my friends, my guides as we fought against the tide of your creations. I can leave my life to them.”

The Goddess chuckled. “Yes, you have, but in the process, you have found comradeship, friendship, and even love.”

“But that doesn’t mean that death was the answer.”

“Do not worry, child. Each of those souls is taken care of one way or another. And they are sent to where they need to go.” The Goddess said with a reassuring tone of voice.

“But-”

The Goddess raised her fingers, stopping her from speaking further. “Another time, child. Your time in this world is only just the beginning. What you need to do is for you to find out.”

Her voice slowly became a whisper.

Snow felt the whirl of energy around her become stronger and stronger, covering her eyes. Then, finally, the Goddess disappeared in front of her.

Until finally, she was standing in front of Mike. He shook her hard, yelling her name.

“Snow?!” Mike shouted. Worry on his face. “Come on, Snow. Why are you doing this?!”

“Mike?” Snow blinked a few times.

“Snow.” Mike pulled her in. “I thought something terrible had happened to you; you went completely blank.”

Snow tilted her head, confused. “I was talking to the Goddess….” Her voice trailed off. “Wait, what about Dairen? Did he make it back?”

Mike's shoulder drooped. His lips became thin, and his gaze became serious. “Snow, I need you to understand something.”

“What?”

“The game is over.”

“And?”

“It means all the special features that we have are gone.”

Snow opened and closed her mouth. “What?!”

“Yes.”

“But, wait, how? Why?”

“I don’t know, but Dairen does not have a way back anymore,” Mike stated with a sad expression. “The way home is gone.”

Tears started to stream down her face. Only loneliness and sadness washed over her heart, hoping and wishing that Dairen would magically appear before her.