Snippet #1995978

He had heard her out throughout the entire story, and he was slightly annoyed with her seemingly resigned and helpless attitude. But what made him even more aggravated was her continuous smile. It had struck quite a nerve as he stared at her, and snapped,

"Stop smiling if you've got no reason to."

It was overly harsh and he knew it. But he wasn't in the mood to think about the nature of the words that were flowing steadily from his lips. This girl was a smart one. Yet she refused to see that her own happiness was worth more than simply helping others out. She was willing to throw away everything and not even bother to retrieve it. It reminded him of something. And when he realized what that something was, his scowl only deepened. Right. She reminded him of himself quite a few years ago. Years being a loosely used term of course. No one knew exactly how to keep time in Hell. Or even when days ended and the night began. In fact, maybe there was no such thing as night in Hell.

Many years ago though, Razhehah had found himself in somewhat of a similar situation as Ren. Living life for others and wondering exactly what there was to look forward to. In fact, life had no bright spots. There was no such thing as pleasure and 'happiness' seemed to be as far as Heaven itself. He had been ready to give up and suicide the way most demons would: jumping into the pits of fire that Hell had an abundance of. He had been close to doing it. Literally only a breath of a second off. Yet something had stopped him from leaping the final step forward. He made up his mind that moment that death was pointless. Even more pointless than his life up till now. From that moment forward, he would do nothing but chart out a new life for himself. That day standing in front of the pits of fire had been the first stepping stone of many to the path that led him here. Into the basement of Renevari Lehsade's house.

Now he stared at her with a look that a few seconds ago had been disgust but had now transformed into something a little less uncertain. For a brief moment, he saw himself standing in front of him. But then he shook his head and stared sternly at Ren.

"Look Ren, I'm not going to try and pull you out of your pool of self-pity and whatnot. But let me tell you something out of experience: You can't continue living the way you are now." He leaned in towards her and bent down slightly so that his face was right in front of her's.

"Sooner or later, something has to give and you have to make a decision: Either you die, or you find some sort of means to keep going on. And that means has to be your own happiness."

He paused for a second, wondering if he should go on. But he had already revealed this much. Why not take it a step further?

"Quite a few years ago, I found myself in a situation somewhat like yours. I made a decision that day and went on to pursue my own happiness and live. Maybe you'll do the same. Maybe you won't. But sooner or later, you'll be standing at an impossible crossroads."