The Sweet Taste of Jealousy | Job | Yseult Gans

edar was typically a cliche, sunny port village where its inhabitants enjoyed the beach and scarfed down ice cream like oxygen. It was still a true reality this day, but it happened that a small winter was slowly approaching the the outskirts of the town's forest. Snow began to stick to the otherwise green leaves force them to wither away, and a very chilling frost clung to the trunks like a white plague. It threw the animals into such a tizzy that they scrambled and began their migrations early. It was a strange occurrence but began to grow more commonplace ever since the White Witch of Mt. Hakobe had come down from her snowy abode. No one had to know of her reputation to avoid her, though. The eternal snowfall that followed her like a personal hell was constant and its coldness could be felt and seen for miles, and most people preferred to avoid it. She was truly a natural disaster.

There was one poor fellow who could not avoid the snowstorm. He was on a personal but very important mission to satisfy his own heart. He carried with him a burden that could only be satiated when he met with his lover and no amount of snow could stop his path. He had foolishly decided leave behind all forms of transportation due to the cost, believing it would be a simple walk into the city. Even so, he did not turn around when met with the frosty sight of a snowy forest before him. He thought himself a brave knight trekking through a tundra in search of the princess after all. Had no clue nor any reason to suspect that a 'dragon' of sorts was awaiting him; a predator which desired to see him dead for nothing more than a few Jewels.

As the man hurried along a path, he noticed a figure behind the trees through his peripheral vision. His head jerked as the figured lazily slithered out from thicket: a woman clad completely in white, with matching hair and skin to boot. The initial sight sent a chill up the man's spine as he thought for sure he was looking at a ghost. His face turned even paler and his throat sounded clogged as he gasped and back away in a knee-jerk reaction.

"Don't be afraid," Yseult Gans warned him in a hush and somber tone. "Are you lost?"

The man's heart skipped a beat as he tried to regain his composure. He nervously responded, "Uh, no. Well, I'm a little startled... I didn't think it would be snowing this hard, ha...ha..."

Yseult's drab expression gradually turned into a little smile as she noticed the man coward at her abrupt appearance. She held out her gloved hand to him and ordered, "Come with me. I'll help you get out of the forest. It's dangerous to travel alone anyway." The man looked as if he wanted to object but had a feeling he should not disobey her demand.

The two walked the snowy path but as they did, the storm appeared to grow more severe by the minute. "Are you sure this is the right way?" he asked with timidness. Yseult didn't respond though. She was too caught up in thought, pondering how pointless it was to kill someone over the love of another. There was a decadent sadness to it that forced away Yseult's fake smile. "Um, hello? Are you listening?" Ignored again, however, Yseult's right arm started to shake violently. Quickly, it started to even fall apart and apparently dissolved into snow itself until the White Witch was without an arm. Aside from freaking the man out, the resulting lost limb exploded into a swirling cloud of chilling snow that brought pain to the man's very skin.

"I'm sorry," Yseult said as she simply walked forward as the snowstorm devoured everything around them, including the man himself. No scream could be heard from him as the extra cold snow stiffened even his throat. Yseult did not need to turn around to ensure his death. She was certain no one like him could survive it. Instead, she walked forward without a guilty conscious but with a disappointed expression.

As she left the forest, she brushed her hand against the side of her dress to ensure she still carried the letter she was given. Yseult had learned that it was not very hard to take a life, but she knew it would be hard to comfort someone who's lost a loved one. To that end, Yseult was sure the hard part would remain for the client who hired her. He would inevitably have to care for the broken-hearted woman when her former lover's body was discovered. She did not envy him, but she did not even like him (or anyone who would ask for someone to be killed for such a petty reason) either.

Yseult entered the town with the letter by her side. The quiet snow swept across the pavement but she had the fortune of receiving an illuminated path from all the lacrima-powered street lamps. When she approached the house she was told about, Yseult noticed an eager figure looking through the window; no doubt it was the woman waiting for her boy toy to show up. Yseult's expression offered no sympathy to the woman, and she simply dropped the letter in front of the house's front door before leaving.

"They'll be a miserable couple," she muttered.