A WHILE ago…

"TILLY, what is it that you want to tell me?" Kiho asked while pouring tea in her tea cup. Since there were no servants in that house, he volunteered to make to for his wife. "Does it have to do with the punishment of our descendants?"

"Yes," Tilly said, then she smiled at him. "Thank you for making tea, Kiho."

He nodded, glad to have served his wife even in just a simple way. Then, he sat on the sofa from across her. "Tilly, actually, I also thought of a way to punish our descendants without killing them."

She sipped her tea before she asked. "Interesting. Let's hear your idea first."

"Alright," he said, then he explained. "But honey, let me ask you first: do you still think that we, as their ancestors, should end their lives for the crimes that they had committed?"

He remembered that Tilly promised herself to kill the people who killed Lord Prescott.

When they met Garnet Nystrom for the first time, she also threatened the North King that she would take their lives by her very own hands. But he was also aware of the fact that when Tilly was angry, she sometimes spat words that she didn't mean.

And of course, she was allowed to change her mind.

"I'm ashamed, but my temper got the best of me when I said that we have the right to end their lives since we are the reason why they existed in the first place," Tilly admitted with a sigh. "But still, they should be punished. Even though they suffered when they were still alive, it's not an acceptable excuse to kill innocent people."

"I agree with you," he said with a firm nod. "Since they are our descendants, we must stop them from being evil." He paused, then he continued in a soft voice. "We must put them to rest. Cheating death itself is already a grave sin."

"I feel like we'd fail if we put them to rest without us making them regret the crimes that they have committed," she said. "I want them to understand what they did wrong. I don't want them to leave this world without feeling remorseful." She let out a frustrated sigh. "But it seems like they have already lost their emotions. The only thing that they probably feel now is anger towards us."

"Tilly, we really are soul mates."

She looked surprised by what he said, then she laughed softly. "That's so random, Kiho."

"Not really," he said gently while shaking his head. "I was talking to Julian and Winter a while ago. Our children reminded me that Garnet Nystrom and the rest of his ice puppet army were all humans before. But their grudge and the long life that they lived seemed to erase the human emotions that they had before. I believe that's the reason why they're no longer capable of differentiating right from wrong."

She nodded in agreement. "That's true."

"And so, I came up with a plan to bring their humanity back," he said. "Using my Water Memory technique, I plan to make them remember their lives when they were still humans. I want to remind them that they weren't born that way."

She blinked several times as if she was surprised, then she laughed softly. "We really are soul mates, Kiho."

That instantly put him in a good mood.

"I'm thinking of creating a spell that would melt the ice puppets on their own will," his wife said after a while.

"Tilly, creating a spell that powerful might put you in danger," he said worriedly. "Fire Mages get weak when they make spells that don't involve summoning flame, don't you? And the last time that you created a spell, you were punished."

"Don't worry. I'm better at making spells now," she assured him. "I think."

"Tilly…"

He wanted to stop her but he knew that once she made up her mind, it wouldn't be possible even for him to change it. All he could do was to worry about her, and stand behind her to make sure that she wouldn't get hurt again.

After all, despite how much he worried about her, he knew in his heart that Tilly shined the brightest whenever she did her best to protect her people.

"The spell that I want to create will give the choice to the ice puppets whether to stay like that, or return as human beings to die as one," she explained carefully. "Don't you think it matched your plan, Kiho? After you show them the memories of their lives when they were still humans, I will cast the spell on them. If they want to die as human beings after being reminded of the lives that they lost when they became ice puppets, my flame will melt them. Then, my spell will temporarily give them back their human bodies before they die."

"That sounds plausible," he said while nodding his head. "My Water Memory technique will work well with the spell that you will create."

"Let's try it on Thaddeus Nystrom," she said. "We need to know how much energy it will take for us to do our plan to one person. So that we will have an idea on how much more energy do we need for the rest of the ice puppet army."

"I agree," Kiho said with a firm nod, then he extended his hand to his wife. "It's an honor to work with you again, Supreme Fire Mage with many other titles."

His wife laughed softly and no matter how cliché and sappy it would sound, he'd still say that her laughter was music to his ears.

"The pleasure is mine, Black Serpent," Tilly said when she took his hand in hers. "Now, it's time to work for real."

***

KIHO, after reminiscing the conversation he had with Tilly a while ago, was now standing in front of Thaddeus Nystrom's cellar.

Inside the prison, he could see the "ice prince." His descendant was kneeling on the floor while looking up at the ceiling with a blank look on his face. Thaddeus Nystrom was probably "watching" his memories when he was still a human being.

"Do you think it will work, Kiho?" Tilly, who stood beside him, asked. "Do you think Thaddeus Nystrom will regret his actions once he remembered that he was once a human, too?"

"I'd like to say yes but as your gray cloud, my heart is uncertain," he said truthfully. "You know that there are people who are naturally evil, don't you? One example that I could give you is Elis Ripperton."

His wife stifled a laughter.

"It's true though," he said. "Even before Elis Ripperton was chosen to be one of the Beast Gods, he's already a lunatic with the mindset of a killer."

"I can't deny that," she said while shaking her head. "I still remember the days where he killed the humans that I grew fond of."

"Yes, I remember that, too," he said. "There was even a time that I saw you lose control. You almost burned down the forest that served as a lair for Crades back then. Even Winchell had a hard time putting out your flame during that time."

She looked up at him with a confused look on her face. "I remember that but I don't remember seeing you there."

Oh.

He could only bit his lip as a response.

"You weren't there but I remember that it rained that day," she said, her eyes widening as realization dawned upon her face. "And that rain instantly extinguished my flame. So, it was you!"

He averted his gaze from Tilly.

"It was really you, Why didn't I think of that back then?" she asked in bewilderment. "But Kiho, that happened before the Beast Gods entered the heavens. You were still the aloof Nystrom back then." She cupped his face between her hands and gently moved his head so that he'd be facing her properly. The naughty smile on her face made him feel nervous. "Kiho, do you already like me back then?"

"No?"

She laughed loudly. "You're lying! Gosh, I knew you already like me then."

It wasn't like he didn't want to admit it. He was just shy to admit it now after all the things that Nystrom did in the past. And he didn't have a chance to do so when they heard a strange sound coming from the cellar.

Both he and Tilly turned to Thaddeus Nystrom.

Tilly let out a soft gasp when he saw what was happening to the ice prince. "He's melting."

"He is," Kiho confirmed while nodding his head. "Your spell is working, Tilly."

***

WONG coughed blood after releasing a huge ball of fire that failed to damage the Royal Palace.

After all, Elis Ripperton had turned into a Blue Dragon and used his invincible scales to block the attack. Although his skin turned black from the burn, he still survived. And the Royal Palace remained unscathed.

Ah, there's really a reason why he was chosen as one of the Beast Gods.

He didn't have the time to rest because he felt a familiar presence behind him. And that presence shocked him.

A Moonchester's aura?

When he turned around, he was fully expecting to be greeted by Aku or Nia Moonchester. But much to his shock, he was greeted by a pair of pink eyes that didn't belong to the Moon Priestess. There was another witch who survived from the Colorless Coven?

"Who are you?" Wong asked in disbelief. "Why do you have the aura of a Moonchester?"

***

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